#Asia 4 Years in Crypto”: An Exit Note from a Builder Goes Viral in Asia

“I am NOT building a new financial system. I built a casino.” This blunt admission from Ken Chan, former co-founder of the Aevo derivatives protocol, has resonated in Asian crypto communities this week.

What started as a post on X has now crossed linguistic borders, been presented to Chinese communities by local media, and has been widely shared among Korean traders, accumulating millions of views along the way.

From Ayn Rand to Disillusionment: A Libertarian's Journey Through Crypto

Chan's confession is not merely a critique - it is the unfolding of a personal ideology. He describes himself as a "dreamer libertarian" who donated to Gary Johnson's presidential campaign in 2016 after being radicalized by Ayn Rand's novels. The cypherpunk ethos of Bitcoin spoke directly to this worldview. "Being able to cross the border with a billion dollars in my head is and always will be a powerful idea for me," he writes.

However, eight years of experience in the industry have eroded that idealism. Chan recounts how the Layer 1 wars - the influx of capital into Aptos, Sui, Sei, ICP, and many others - did not produce significant progress towards a new financial system. Instead, it "literally burned everyone's money" in the quest to become the next Solana. His verdict is harsh: "We don’t need to build the Casino on Mars."

According to his LinkedIn profile, Chan left Aevo in May of this year. His personal website indicates that he is now working on KENSAT, a personal satellite project. It is scheduled to launch aboard a Falcon 9 in June 2026. His confession comes six months after his departure. This occurs while the AEVO token trades at approximately $45 million in fully diluted market cap - a drop of approximately 99% from its peak.$BTC $XRP