Venture capital has long been the gatekeeper of innovation, but in crypto, cracks are starting to show. Traditional allocations often arrive with steep discounts, lockups, and exclusivity that keep everyday contributors sidelined. Meanwhile, a new wave of large-scale crypto crowdfunding is flipping that dynamic, combining compliance with community. Platforms like CoinList, Republic, Kaito, and Pump.fun have proven the power of social and institutional crowdfunding alike. Pou konprann sa ki mennen sa a chanjman - ak kote li ap dirije - mwen te monte ak yon devlopè veteran nan Solana , ki se tou co-fondatè a nan SeedList, yon nouvo gwo-scale kripto crowdfunding lansepad. kriptografik Hello, CryptoSheldon! Can you briefly tell us about yourself and your professional background? Hi, CryptoSheldon! Èske ou ka di yon ti kras sou tèt ou ak background pwofesyonèl ou? I started working in crypto in 2017 as a programmer and trader but soon started developing in the Solana ecosystem. In 2018 I met the CoinList guys at my first crypto conference and ever since been very interested in decentralized fundraising through crypto. I’ve written about the subject, analyzing many coins in the crypto financial services sector on Binance global trading and Binance Square and in various Solana publications. I’ve also advised a handful of crypto projects in the Solana ecosystem, taking some from zero development to large market capitalizations on tier 1 exchanges behind the scenes. Doing so I’ve learned what it takes to start a project and grow it to become a tier 1 crypto unicorn. Venture capital has dominated tech funding for decades. Why is crypto crowdfunding gaining traction now? Venture kapital te domine finansman teknoloji pou dè dekad. Poukisa Crypto crowdfunding se genyen traction kounye a? The short answer is that crypto doesn’t wait for board meetings. In traditional VC, founders spend months pitching, negotiating terms, and giving up equity for capital. In Web3, we’ve seen projects like Solana, Filecoin, and Flow raise hundreds of millions directly from the community through platforms like CoinList or Republic. Community sales happen faster and onboard real users immediately. Contributors aren’t locked into five-year exits, they participate in the ecosystem from day one. Token launches can scale globally overnight, instead of staying confined to Sand Hill Road. It’s a better fit for a technology that’s supposed to be decentralized. We’ve seen some massive token sales lately. Which ones stand out to you as proof that crowdfunding can rival VC rounds? Nou te wè kèk machandiz token vann dènyèman. Ki sa yo kouvri pou ou kòm yon dokiman ke crowdfunding ka konpetisyon VC ronde? WalletConnect a 10 milyon dola ogmante ane sa a te yon egzanp pafè ak yon bagay mwen te vle wè pou prèske 10 ane. Li pa te sèlman sou yon sèl platfòm, li espand sou CoinList, Bitget la Launch X, ak Cobie a Echo. Sa a se yon multi-platfòm, multi-kominikasyon ogmante kote dè santèn de milye de moun te enplike. Echo itself is interesting, it sold $500K of WalletConnect tokens in just 11 seconds by combining AI-driven matching with community incentives and Kaito launched Espresso with reputation-based allocations. It’s now worth $300M on Binance with no end in sight. That’s the kind of traction VCs simply can’t match on their own anymore. Beyond scale, what makes SocialFi crowdfunding so different? Plis pase skal, ki sa ki fè SocialFi crowdfunding sa diferan? It’s about who you are, not just how much you invest. Take Kaito — they allocate based on social reputation and analytics, not just wallet size. Pump.fun showed the opposite end of the spectrum: meme tokens going viral on social media before exchanges even noticed. Together, those experiments proved two things: Influence is capital. Attention itself can be a funding engine. SocialFi makes token launches more organic, more participatory, and in some cases, more viral than anything a VC syndicate could coordinate. That leads us to your project, SeedList. What gap are you trying to fill in this new landscape? Li mennen nou nan pwojè ou, SeedList. Ki kouch ou ap eseye ranpli nan sa a nouvo peyizaj? If platforms like Kaito and Pump.fun proved that reputation and virality matter, SeedList is asking: why do we need VCs at all? We’re building a model where those passive allocations get redirected to KOLs, centralized exchanges, ecosystem foundations, and even retail micro-influencers. Our allocation model uses AI to measure things like: Technical contributions, Social reach and influence, Engagement from non-U.S. regions that often get excluded. Instead of rewarding the same privileged funds, we reward the people actually driving adoption. Some people argue VCs provide more than just money, mentorship, connections, governance. Can crowdfunding really replace that? Yon kèk moun argumente VCs bay plis pase jis lajan, mentoring, koneksyon, gouvènman. Ka crowdfunding reyèlman ranplase sa a? I spent years watching founders waste weeks in pitch rooms and board updates. In crypto, that’s unnecessary friction. Platforms like SeedList can give projects the same industry connections, exchanges like Bybit or Binance, ecosystem partners like Solana or Avalanche, influencers like Mr. Beast who reach tens of millions — but without founders giving up control. Kòm mwen te di pi bonè: VC antrepriz la vye granmoun se pa sèlman opsyon an plis. Nou ka livrezon kapital la, kominote a, ak mondyal mak rive nan yon fraksyon nan tan. How does this affect retail investors? Aren’t they still at a disadvantage compared to insiders? Ki jan sa a afekte envestisè retail? Pa yo toujou nan yon dezavantaj konpare ak entèdi? Crowdfunding, lè li te fè byen, vle di reta jwenn aksè pi bonè ak ak kondisyon pi bonè. Pou egzanp, Echo ak Kaito te deja pwouve ke ou ka bati yon modèl alokasyon transparan ki rekonpans kontribitè, pa insiders. At SeedList, retail participants — even micro-influencers — get structured tasks, direct allocations, and better interaction with projects. Instead of being locked out, they’re part of the launch momentum from the start. What’s your long-term vision for SeedList and the broader crowdfunding movement? Ki jan vizyon ou a long tèm pou SeedList ak mouvman an pi laj crowdfunding? Nan 2026, mwen kwè ke crowdfunding pral default pou tèt 100 pwojè CoinMarketCap. VC yo pa pral disparèt nan yon jou, men monopol yo sou kapital anvan etap la se fini. Nou pral wè Launchpads ki fonde konpatibilite, analitik, ak likidite, modèl SocialFi ki amplifye kominote reyèl, ak yon baz kontribitè plis mondyal ak enklizyon, pa sèlman yon ti kras nan fon Silicon Valley. Si SeedList ka ede anpeche sa a devan, pa fè lansman an senk fwa plis enpak nan valè mache, adoptasyon, ak mak rive, Lè sa a, nou te fè travay nou an. Final thought: Is this the death of venture capital in crypto? Final pens: Èske sa a se lavi a nan kapital risk nan kriptografik? Potansyèlman pa mouri, men definitivman dethronement. VC yo pral toujou egziste, men yo pa pral plis kontwole ki moun ki resevwa finansman ak ki moun ki pa. Nan kriptografik, foul la se Kingmaker kounye a. Thanks Sheldon or sorry, CryptoSheldon. Any last words? Mèsi Sheldon oswa deplase, CryptoSheldon. Nenpòt mo dènye? Tout bon, ou ka rele m 'Shels, tankou machin Gun Kelly, yo rele l 'Kells. Mèsi pou gen mwen jodi a. 12 mwa pwochen yo pral trè enteresan. Plant semèn la ak pa Privilege la! "
