The first group of post-2000 Web3 wage slaves has begun to "exit the matrix."

Original Title: "The First Group of Post-2000s Web3 Workers Have Started to 'Exit the Circle'"

Original Author: Golem, Odaily Star Daily

"I Don't Want to Work Anymore", I said with a disheveled appearance and vacant eyes facing the meeting screen during a midweek meeting (I didn't turn on the camera this time, so they couldn't see my appearance). After I said this sentence, the meeting atmosphere froze for two seconds, "Golem, please stay after the meeting," the editor's voice broke the silence.

Fortunately, after the meeting, the editor was really addressing my issue, not addressing me. After a few discussions (mainly asking me what I enjoy doing), everyone came to a unanimous conclusion: I needed to go out, take a walk, and change the environment. So I went to a music festival in Guiyang and then stayed in Kunming for a week.

Rock music enthusiasts from all over the country reveling at the music festival

Web 3 Is No Longer the Moonlight in My Heart

This low-energy and bewildered state is not the first time it has appeared on me. Since 2025, I have felt this kind of pervasive emotion many times. Many friends are concerned about whether it is because of work, after all, no one is happy to work like an ox or horse.

Obviously, those who say this do not understand Web3. Our industry should have the least "workaholic" atmosphere—salaries higher than peers, freedom of remote work, flexible working hours, no punching in and out, open and flat management structure. None of these benefits, placed in today's overworked employment environment, are a regression from the same-age group.

If we use a 5-year career generational division, today, when the "Post-2005" are already making a mark in the Web3 workplace, as a 2002-born, I am also considered one of the first group of "Post-2000s" Web 3 laborers. Although these workplace perks have not changed, Web 3 is no longer the moonlight in my heart.

In 2021, I started learning about Web3 at school, and in 2023, I formally and systematically studied Web3 industry knowledge and entered the workplace as an intern. In my impression, this industry should have the most idealists. I entered Web3 full of love for blockchain, decentralization, and a spirit of "revolution," believing that this industry could transform the world in a better direction. Data ownership, personal privacy protection, trustless currency, decentralized finance, and the open and transparent Web3... I was ready to follow through on my ideals, my career aspirations, and face any challenge.

However, reality has shown me that this industry only cares about "money." "Perhaps my understanding of Web3 and blockchain is too idealistic and superficial. I hope to have a deeper understanding in the new year," in late 2024, when my boss asked me about my plans for 2025, just six months after graduation, I expressed this expectation to myself.

A journalist is certainly a good role to observe and learn about Web3. We input a massive amount of raw, firsthand industry information every day, process and refine it, and then output it to the market. My originally positive perception of Web3 is also being reshaped. Look at what we have been through from 2024 to 2025. No one truly cares about technical value anymore, no one talks about ideals. Everyone is single-mindedly focused on "money."

In the first half of 2024, we began to deconstruct VCs and project teams, with low-priced chip unlocks causing price crashes, manipulating the market with airdrops to create false data spikes, and adopting the "token issuance is the endpoint" strategy. We realized that under the VC-packaged technical narrative, "money" is the true goal. Later, the Meme Season erupted, with various scheming players building communities under the banner of decentralization and shared ideology. Third-rate developers were lauded under the AI Agent saints, and celebrities outside the circle were given grand "treatment" when issuing tokens. In the end, they all followed the path of token issuance → FOMO → abandoning the community/project, with "money" still the goal. Just as all liquidity was about to be drained, savvy crypto enthusiasts turned their attention back to the stock market, using reverse mergers to go public and establishing public company treasuries as a means to find "new money." The purpose of these companies remained unimportant.

As a result, my understanding of Web3 has shifted from "this is an industry that can make the world a better place" to "this is just an industry where money can be made relatively quickly," and I too have focused on "money."

Although I continue to follow industry trends, conduct in-depth research on new projects and trends, my personal Twitter account has not been updated with crypto-related content for a long time. Fans have messaged me asking why I no longer publicly share projects (thank you for your support). My reason is that outside of speculation, there are no projects that truly pique my interest, and I have lost the desire to share.

"Golem, what you need is stimulation, even if it's in your work." The deputy editor-in-chief told me. This statement made me nostalgic for the time when I officially entered the industry in 2023, interned at a large company, and wrote research reports. At that time, I was immersed in the enthusiasm and excitement of Web3 every day. I would discuss with my mentor how cross-chain bridges actually transfer assets between two chains, what ethical issues the L2 sequencer monopoly would bring to blockchain, and as I rode my bike alongside the Qiantang River in Hangzhou, I would ask my friends: How can we simplify the understanding of account abstraction? However, everything cannot be undone.

A section of materials organized for learning Web3 in the early stages of entering the circle

Some have also told me that this is just because the market is not good or you haven't made money. Internal conflicts will escalate in a bear market, but as long as you hold on until the bull market, everyone will be happy. Money may be a big factor, but the lack of a sense of accomplishment is the real reason.

The first batch of post-2000s Web3 laborers have begun to retreat/fade from the circle

As social media is flooded with various stories of post-2000s overnight crypto wealth or post-2000s giving orders in the Web3 workplace, some post-2000s Web3 laborers have quietly left the circle. Many former colleagues have turned to other industries.

Wang Yue, a post-2000s individual with a similar entry experience to me, worked as an intern at a VC in 2023 and later joined a Web3 company. However, at the end of July this year, he chose to resign and start a foreign trade business. Wang Yue told me that resigning does not mean that he will no longer pay attention to Web3 and crypto. If there is an opportunity, he will still take the risk, but he will no longer be as committed as before. "In fact, I don't have much confidence in my ability to speculate on crypto. On the contrary, maybe doing practical work in the real industry is more suitable for me," were his final words to me.

Wang Yue discusses entrepreneurial ideas with a foreign trade partner

More and more post-2000s are beginning to realize that the crypto world is a suitable financial choice rather than a suitable career choice. Taozi, a post-2000s postgraduate student from Zhejiang University, was active in a student blockchain organization during her school years and interned at a Web3 project. However, after graduating, she became a civil servant in her hometown. "I'm one who values experiences, and I believe life is greater than work, so I only see Web3 as a side gig for financial management," Taozi explained to me why she didn't choose a full-time Web3 job after graduation.

Even some post-2000s startup teams are beginning to give up on Web3. "When I joined, the project had a Web3 plan, but due to various reasons, it is still in a pure Web 2 mode," said Xiaoyu, a post-2000s individual who interned at a Web 3 fund before graduation and later joined a startup team related to the Japanese otaku community. This year, she just took over as the project's CEO. We used to discuss Web3 in the same community, but Xiaoyu hasn't focused on Web3 since 2024. As a startup company, Xiaoyu told me they are still trying to complete the business loop and have stopped considering a Web3 plan in the short term.

But one common point is that whether as a civil servant or an independent entrepreneur, anyone who has experienced Web3 can no longer tolerate the high-pressure work environment of the traditional industry. "My main job now is actually a psychic, and my side job is working a regular job," MeiMei strongly agrees with the view that "after going through Web3, one can no longer work a regular job." MeiMei is not a typical post-00s individual, but being born in May 1999, she was once my student.

However, recently she also told me that she is gradually exiting Web3. One reason is that the company has undergone a business transformation. MeiMei's company originally focused on Web3 games, but now it is engaged in investment business completely unrelated to Web3. "Web3 games are not part of the current narrative, and the boss wants to do something he likes and is interested in," MeiMei explained the reason for such a significant transformation by the company.

Unlike other individuals who still view the crypto industry as a financial option, MeiMei's exit from the industry is more definitive, to the extent that she no longer invests in Bitcoin. "I feel that people who don't care much about money are really not suitable for Web3 because if you don't understand the psychology of speculators, you can't feel the excitement," MeiMei said she is that kind of person, and Web3 makes her feel exhausted.

Those who consider Web3 their lifelong career are gradually decreasing. Dahe is my junior at the same school, and he deeply engaged with Web3 during his university years. As a fresh graduate, he has already joined a Web3 company and received a monthly salary of over ten thousand, which is not uncommon in Web3 but surpasses many fresh graduates. However, he recently told me, "Make money while young, if there is a bear market in the second half of the year, I will take the civil service exam." I was somewhat surprised to hear this response, wondering why someone who is enjoying the dividends still has such little trust in Web3. He said, "I just feel that working in Web3 is too unstable. I will quit sooner or later after earning enough money."

As Above, So Below

All these conversations took place around the time I returned from my trip to Kunming.

As the convergence between the crypto industry and traditional finance deepens, global regulations embrace Web3, and Bitcoin, Web3, and blockchain have become well-known to the public. However, there have always been two Web3s in this world: one that only values the properties of crypto assets, leading them to be engulfed by the traditional financial system; and the other that continues to spiral inward within the ecosystem, full of projects with no hope of breaking out of the cycle, serving only the crypto elites in Web3 projects.

These are two significantly divided Web3s. I once immersed myself in the latter, but apart from witnessing projects with lifecycles of only a few months, experiencing the constant fluctuation of an "up only" account, and feeling a sense of emptiness, I began to understand why Wang Xiao'er would give free meal vouchers to sanitation workers after making money. Besides various methods and models of wealth redistribution, can this industry make the world a better place?

In Dianchi Lake in Kunming, there are several floating grass blocks drifting with the waves, contrasting with the vast lake surface. I specifically looked it up, and these grass blocks are a measure to improve water quality and reduce the degree of eutrophication in the water.

However, this scene of being at the mercy of the wind and waves really makes me think that I am also in this vast Crypto ocean, losing direction, and buffeted by the winds and waves.

Note: In the text, Wang Yue, Taozi, Xiaoyu, Meimei, and Dahe are all pseudonyms.