Miko Matsumura: No More Crypto Wild West, This Cycle Will Reward Different Behavior

Crypto’s wild west era is over, according to Miko Matsumura, managing partner at Gumi Cryptos Capital. The industry has won its core battles as institutional rails fall into place.

Matsumura welcomed the current bear market but warned that it would reward different behavior than previous cycles. Builders who repeat the meme coin playbook will be left behind as fresh capital and tougher regulation arrive.

The Industry Has Won, Miko Matsumura Argues

In an interview with BeInCrypto at the NBX Warsaw conference, Matsumura argued that crypto has already secured its structural wins.

“I think we’ve basically won. We’ve basically gotten everything that we wanted.”

He broke that victory into three pieces, mapping crypto sectors onto traditional finance roles.

“I think the reserve bank is solved which is Bitcoin. I think the investment bank is solved which is Ethereum. I think the retail bank is solved.”

Multiple chains will likely share retail banking duties, with Base and Solana competing for that layer.

Regulation arriving is, in his view, further proof that the industry has crossed the finish line. The next chapter is about scaling crypto a thousand times bigger, not redefining it.

This Bear Market Is Not Like the Last One

Miko Matsumura describes himself as a net accumulator and welcomes lower prices. However, he cautioned that the next leg up will not reward yesterday’s tactics.

“I don’t think this is like any other previous bear market because of the change of the phase from the frontier phase into the traditional phase. People won’t be rewarded for doing exactly the same thing they did last time.”

He was blunt about meme coin speculation as a path to riches.

“I don’t think it’s going to be like, oh, just go and build another meme coin and then, you know, you’ll be rich. Like, it’s not going to be like that.”

He emphasized that the deepest stretches of a bear market typically reward the highest-conviction builders. New entrants and tighter rules will reshape what counts as a winning strategy this cycle.

Where the Opportunity Goes Next

Meanwhile, Miko Matsumura pointed to high-growth economies in Latin America and Nigeria as the new frontier for crypto. Solo founders using AI tools to keep burn rates low also stand out, he added.

“You need to continue building in the bear market, but you really need to change things up… build different things and build real practical solutions that solve problems.”

Matsumura listed courage, curiosity, and conviction as the traits he wants in founders this cycle. Building at the application layer should outweigh rebuilding foundations, he added.