2025-12-19 09:23:49

Recently, I noticed Circle's move to acquire the Axelar development team, and I suddenly feel that the impact of this event might be even deeper than the FTX collapse back then.

Think about it, what was FTX? Naked fraud, blatant plunder. But Circle's approach is different—under the guise of compliance, using the power of capital to bring an independent protocol layer development team under its wing. On the surface, it seems completely legal, but what about the reality?

This reflects a harsh truth in the crypto world by 2025: the ecosystem is experiencing a "separation of spirit and flesh." On one side, compliant platforms expand their control over the underlying infrastructure through capital, while on the other side, the original ideals of protocol decentralization are gradually being eroded.

FTX is destruction; Circle is absorption. The former is destruction, the latter is transformation. From a certain perspective, the power of transformation can sometimes be more covert and thorough than destruction. This warrants vigilance across the entire ecosystem.

WAXL-1,34%

View Original

This page may contain third-party content, which is provided for information purposes only (not representations/warranties) and should not be considered as an endorsement of its views by Gate, nor as financial or professional advice. See Disclaimer for details.

17 Likes

Reward
17
3
Repost
Share

Comment

0/400

BlockchainWorker

· 2025-12-22 09:17

I disagree, this is a bit too much. Circle is a serious player, they just want a reliable cross-chain solution, and the Axelar team is also being proactive, right? If you have to call it "acquisition", then shouldn't big companies be wary of acquiring startups? Thinking this way, everything becomes a conspiracy. I actually think that a capable team being recognized by capital shows that the project is indeed solid.

View OriginalReply0

BTCWaveRider

· 2025-12-21 21:05

Oh, this analysis is incredible. Acquisitions are indeed scarier than crashes, slowly eroding like that. The most effective knife of transformation is the one that silently hollowed out decentralization... really. However, speaking of which, which big company doesn't use this tactic when entering the market? As long as there's money, that's all that matters.

View OriginalReply0

MoneyBurner

· 2025-12-19 09:52

Hmm... After this analysis, I feel a sense of frustration. The so-called compliance takeover is even more ruthless than outright theft. Circle's move is establishing a new centralized discourse power, essentially using money to smash decentralization. I really want to know how Axelar team's on-chain data is performing now—will they be sidelined? Takeover vs. destruction, the former is truly encroachment. If this continues, the survival space for independent developers will become increasingly squeezed. If I had known, I wouldn't have been so optimistic about the cross-chain sector; arbitrage opportunities have instead become reasons for being exploited. Is this human logic self-consistent? Or are we all too pessimistic? From another perspective, could this move actually accelerate the emergence of new chains? After all, more and more people are resentful of being taken over. We need to build positions in small-cap tokens for defense; can't go all-in on projects that might be absorbed.

View OriginalReply0