Speaking on the October 13 episode of the *Empire* podcast, Compound Managing Partner Michael Dempsey stated that crypto venture capital has been "virtually dead" for two years. He noted that while a massive wave of tech founders flooded into the crypto space in 2021, AI now attracts the vast majority of talent. He believes the crypto industry needs more talent and better token incentive mechanisms, as tokenization could undermine long-term incentives. Meanwhile, some fully diluted tokens are beginning to demonstrate real value, allowing investors to assess fundamentals rather than relying solely on narratives. In the VC space, he added, very few founders are still pursuing new ideas outside of perpetual DEXs.