contrary

On October 31, Kyle Harrison, a general partner at the venture capital firm Contrary, stated that venture capital is experiencing a McDonaldization, where efficiency, measurability, predictability, and control lead to outcomes that are not intended by all parties. He believes the symptoms are scale combined with consensus, and the industry has split into different forms that share the same name. Harrison previously worked at Index Ventures, Coatue, and TCV, and founded the research platform Contrary Research. The article was published on the same day in his column.He cited PitchBook data indicating that in the first three quarters of 2026, a16z has raised $23.8 billion, accounting for over 20% of U.S. venture capital fundraising during the same period. During this time, U.S. venture capital funds raised a total of $108.5 billion, which is about 39% higher than the total for 2025. The number of first-time funds decreased from 479 in 2022 to 195 in 2025, with 81 so far this year; funds in their fourth round and beyond accounted for 88.2% of all fundraising, the highest share recorded by PitchBook.Harrison also wrote that the proportion of U.S. venture capital funding attributed to artificial intelligence rose from 39% in 2023 to 51% in 2024, 65% in 2025, and 82.7% so far in 2026. In the first quarter of this year, five companies—OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Waymo, and Databricks—captured 73.2% of U.S. deal value. Since 2023, non-AI venture capital in the U.S. has roughly maintained an annual range of $100 billion to $120 billion. He stated that once fund size dominates decision-making, every deal must fit the fund's scale.

According to The Verge, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong previously stated that he intends to withdraw support for the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Bill (CLARITY), saying, "I would rather have no bill than a bad bill." However, several key industry players hold a position contrary to Coinbase's. Kraken CEO Arjun Sethi stated that legacy issues should be resolved through negotiation rather than abandoning years of bipartisan progress.a16z Managing Partner Chris Dixon, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and White House AI and Cryptocurrency Special Advisor David Sacks also expressed similar views, urging all parties to resolve their differences by the end of the month.Ledger's Global Policy Head Seth Hertlein pointed out that it is hard to imagine whether there will be as favorable an environment in the future. The industry generally feels that if legislation is not completed now, it will either be impossible to achieve in the future or will occur under very unfavorable conditions. The cryptocurrency industry does not want the availability of software or the rights to publish content to change with each new administration.

The founder and chairman of 360 Group, Zhou Hongyi, issued a statement: Recently, Yu Hong maliciously slandered Mr. Zhou Hongyi, the founder of 360 Group, and several entrepreneurs in multiple WeChat groups, with extreme and false remarks that have had a serious negative impact.The statement pointed out that the mentioned Yu Hong was the head of Gamewave, a gaming company that was acquired by Qihoo 360, the original U.S. listed entity of 360, more than a decade ago. Yu Hong joined a subsidiary of 360 in 2014 and left in 2015 for personal reasons, and during his tenure, he never held a core management position at 360 Group.360 Group emphasized that the allegations of so-called "financial fraud" are seriously deviating from the facts. In response to the related malicious defamation, 360 Group stated that it will take legal measures according to the law to hold the relevant individuals accountable and resolutely safeguard the company's reputation and legal rights.Previously, former 360 executive and XMAX founder Yu Hong harshly criticized 360 Group founder Zhou Hongyi late at night on WeChat Moments and in groups. He claimed that helping Zhou Hongyi cook the books amounted to at least tens of billions, and he has the data to prove it. He stated that all of Zhou Hongyi's games were involved in financial fraud. He also expressed that knowing Zhou Hongyi was the biggest mistake and that he had lost a lot of money because of him.

ChainCatcher news, Nick Tomaino, the founder of 1confirmation, posted on platform X stating, "The most valuable lesson learned from past bull markets is that excessive hype is often a contrary signal. When the majority are making noise, it usually means they lack confidence in their positions, and once given the opportunity, they will sell to you. A large and steadfast group of holders is the best signal."

ChainCatcher news, Ethereum Foundation core researcher Justin Drake tweeted that he has recently become an advisor to the Eigen Foundation. While serving as an advisor can yield many EIGEN token rewards, he is prepared to terminate the advisory position at any time if EigenLayer's direction contradicts the interests of Ethereum, and he commits to reinvesting all advisory income into valuable projects within the Ethereum ecosystem, whether through investment or donations.In addition, Justin Drake stated that he is very selective about advisory positions, and the entire negotiation process took over a year to discuss. The conditions for his advisory role are that the responsibilities are limited to researching restaking risks, providing advice in a personal capacity, and his name will not appear in marketing materials.