Overnight, the crypto tycoons were severely played by Vanity Fair

Author: Gu Yu, ChainCatcher

Overnight, a group photo of crypto moguls swept through the X timeline of all crypto practitioners, accompanied by overwhelming ridicule and criticism.

The main figures in the image include ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood, Polychain founder Olaf Carlson-Wee, Galaxy Digital founder Michael Novogratz, and other well-known industry figures, but this did not prevent the controversy from escalating.

Further examination of this group photo reveals that it is a work from the prestigious magazine Vanity Fair, published on the cover of the latest issue titled "Cryptocurrency's Devotees Demand to Be Taken Seriously."

This article, through close observation of the core circles of the industry, delves into how the crypto industry, after enduring multiple rounds of regulatory storms and market crashes, attempts to redefine the global power landscape in 2026 through massive political donations and a "messianic" grand narrative.

Although the stories of crypto moguls have appeared in a series of traditional magazines such as Fortune and The New York Times, Vanity Fair, as a media outlet well-versed in celebrity culture, clearly offers a more "insidious" perspective. The article does not dwell too much on complex industry trends but instead spends considerable effort on the starkly contrasting private lives of these "power reconfigurers."

In the author's portrayal, these billionaires are depicted as a group of eccentric individuals who are both detached from reality and eager to dominate it: on one hand, they discuss the future of human civilization in their mansions in Puerto Rico, while on the other hand, they are obsessed with searching for extraterrestrial life, practicing extreme survivalism, and often appear barefoot in public.

Noelle Acheson, a partner at Triple Crown Digital, commented that we can laugh at (and indeed we want to laugh at) this set of photos from Vanity Fair, mocking the awkward poses and puzzling character portrayals… but the deeper question is: is this how the mainstream media views the cryptocurrency industry? If so, we have a lot of work to do.

From the perspective of most industry insiders, this article not only fails to positively portray the image of cryptocurrency practitioners but also highlights stereotypes about the crypto industry.

Dennison Bertram, co-founder of Tally, further revealed that this article is Vanity Fair's deliberate mockery of cryptocurrency and its related individuals, with the text and photos filled with deep contempt and ridicule. Before engaging with cryptocurrency, he worked as a fashion photographer for over a decade.

He analyzed the personal close-up of Cathie Wood, stating, "Here, Cathie Wood is deliberately portrayed as petite. The camera looks down on her, and the composition intentionally diminishes her stature. The messy curtains, crossed ankles, and the deliberately placed luggage cart all contribute to the coldness that the image is trying to convey. Is there a more scathing visual effect than this?"

Looking at the photo of Michael Novogratz, "His eyes are squinting, looking fierce. Why? Because he is wearing glasses. He is holding them, almost invisible. His face is deliberately shrouded in shadow, appearing quite menacing. It's a mess, everything is crooked, nothing is neat and tidy. Can this be considered a positive image? I don't think so at all."

A group of moguls who reached the peak through the crypto industry originally sought more recognition and support from the outside world through Vanity Fair, but they did not realize that this was a huge "trap," instead appearing in the public eye as clowns, which is undoubtedly a painful lesson.

At this point, seeking recognition from mainstream magazines has itself become a subject of criticism. Jinelle D'Lima, founder of Nozomi, believes that Satoshi Nakamoto and the cypherpunks never sought recognition. "The key is that you don't need their approval: the flow of funds doesn't need it, the network's operation doesn't need it, everything operates without it. We didn't build this to cater to Vanity Fair or Forbes. We built it to resist everything they represent: gatekeepers, systems, and those who decide what is legal and what is illegal."

"Now we are on the cover. Can it be more ironic? This is not us. We were never meant to be like this," Jinelle D'Lima said.

The reason Vanity Fair's report has become a vortex of controversy is that it reveals an awkward situation for the crypto industry: even if the industry attempts to gain serious attention from the mainstream circles through astronomical political donations and "submission" to the mainstream financial system, within the aesthetic and value system of mainstream culture, this group of new elites is still viewed as a subculture with cult-like characteristics.

This debacle may be telling everyone: the true power of the crypto industry has never been in the glossy mainstream media reports, but in the code that can operate without needing to be "taken seriously."