Former Multicoin Co-Founder Says Firm Is 'Working Against' Solana Builders Over Hyperliquid Backing

The dispute comes a month after Samani and Hayes got into a gentleman’s bet on which token would end higher by year-end.

• Kyle Samani, a former co-founder of Multicoin, said his old firm was working against Solana builders by backing Hyperliquid.
• The criticism came after a joint Multicoin-Hyperliquid submission to the CFTC advocating for a federal framework for prediction markets.
• Samani has repeatedly criticized Hyperliquid's closed-source, permissioned architecture, previously calling the protocol "everything wrong with crypto."

The battle between Solana and Hyperliquid is no longer just about token prices. Kyle Samani spent nearly a decade establishing Multicoin Capital as one of Solana's (SOL) most influential backers. Now, months after stepping down as the Managing Partner, he's publicly accusing the company of “working against” the very ecosystem he helped build.

Why Samani Is Criticizing Multicoin 

Samani, the current Chairperson of Forward Industries (FWDI) – a Solana Treasury firm, in a sharp public attack on his former firm, claimed that Multicoin was “working against everything” Solana builders.

Samani said on X on Monday, speaking to Solana developers, that Multicoin, the firm he left in February, no longer had their interests at heart. 

Solana’s price was down over 4% in the past 24 hours, in line with weakness across the broader crypto market. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around SOL moved to ‘bearish’ from the ‘neutral’ zone, while chatter around it stayed at ‘normal’ levels over the past day.

Hyperliquid Partnership Sparks Criticism

Samani responded to a post from the Hyperliquid Policy Center, explaining that Multicoin Capital and the Hyperliquid Policy Center had jointly submitted a comment letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). 

The letter supported the CFTC’s proposed framework to regulate prediction markets, demanding a single federal rulebook run by the CFTC rather than a patchwork of state-by-state gambling laws, and points to Hyperliquid’s (HYPE) on-chain “outcome-based contracts” as a product that would benefit from such clarity.

Hyperliquid’s price was down over 8% during the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, it remained in the ‘bearish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed at ‘high’ levels over the past day.

HYPE Vs SOL: A Growing Public Rift

Samani’s comment deepened a public rift with Multicoin that first emerged earlier this year. Days after leaving the firm, he criticized Hyperliquid directly, calling the platform "everything wrong with crypto" in a post on X, citing its closed-source, permissioned design. 

Last month, Arthur Hayes placed a $100,000 charitable bet that Hyperliquid’s native token would beat all other top-10 cryptocurrencies by the end of the year. Samani accepted the offer, supporting Solana as the rival to HYPE. However, ever since the bet, Hayes sold all of his HYPE tokens, citing rising energy prices and macro conditions.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<