Recently, I noticed Circle's move to acquire the Axelar development team, and I suddenly feel that the impact of this event might be even deeper than the FTX collapse back then.

Think about it, what was FTX? Naked fraud, blatant plunder. But Circle's approach is different—under the guise of compliance, using the power of capital to bring an independent protocol layer development team under its wing. On the surface, it seems completely legal, but what about the reality?

This reflects a harsh truth in the crypto world by 2025: the ecosystem is experiencing a "separation of spirit and flesh." On one side, compliant platforms expand their control over the underlying infrastructure through capital, while on the other side, the original ideals of protocol decentralization are gradually being eroded.

FTX is destruction; Circle is absorption. The former is destruction, the latter is transformation. From a certain perspective, the power of transformation can sometimes be more covert and thorough than destruction. This warrants vigilance across the entire ecosystem.