Messari founder gets extreme with Trump support, calls Vitalik Buterin useless

Ryan Selkis, the CEO of Messari, recently went on a wild rant in support of Donald Trump. It all started after Trump got shot. Ryan took to Twitter with some extreme comments, saying he wishes to see green card holders sent back to their own country.

He called Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin “the most naive and useless political commentator” he has ever seen simply because he advised the crypto industry against getting too political when it comes to voting in the US presidential election.

See: Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin thinks politicians are playing the crypto industry

Ryan’s remarks quickly caught the attention of the crypto community. Suji Yan, founder of Mask Network, declared that:

“This is r***rded. We’re cutting all potential deals with Messari and avoiding their events. Our partners and portfolio companies should think twice before associating with them.”

Ryan is known for taking jabs at Gary Gensler and his SEC on Twitter. He has since made his Twitter private, but he has 354,000 followers, and they like to take screenshots. One tweet read:

“Anyone that votes against Trump at this point can die in a f***ing fire. The Civil War for the country started today, and if you are anti-Trump, you are against the men who are willing to fight. Good luck.”

The next day, he doubled down, saying that: 

“Bolshevism can’t be fixed with votes. We must cut out the evil of the left, by force if needed. That’s why the Second Amendment is crucial. Don’t start violence, but if it comes to your door, end it.”

There’s more. He also wrote: 

“Unity sometimes comes after a decisive victory. This is one of those times. The last three were in 1776, 1860, and 1942. Praying for peace. Preparing for war.”

Ryan also made his anti-immigration sentiments known, which is common among the MAGA. As you can see below, when he asked a user if they were a citizen or just a green card holder, the person replied they were about to apply for citizenship.

Ryan shot back, “I hope we send you back.”

Ryan has a history of picking fights. He’s publicly called Silicon Valley bigwigs like Reid Hoffman, Vinod Khosla, and Ron Conway “old washed-up bitches.” He’s also taken shots at world leaders, calling them “pussies.”

Ryan even went far enough to challenge billionaire Mark Cuban to a fight, completely unprovoked. But his biggest target remains Gary Gensler.

Ryan has called him every name under the sun, including a rat, snake, liar, fraud, loser, beta, toady, sociopath, and also, the Grinch. In response to one tweet from Gensler, Ryan said: 

“We’re so close to your inevitable jail sentence, I can almost taste it.” 

A tweet from April said:

“This government and its proxies deserve total wrath.”

The crypto community may cringe at his antics, but they can’t ignore that Ryan is a popular voice in the industry. He is friends with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and venture capitalist Fred Ehrsam and Messari’s sponsors include Galaxy Digital, Coinbase, Gnosis, Pyth, and TRON.

After Trump’s shooting, Ryan took a swipe at Senator Elizabeth Warren, posting side-by-side photos of her and the shooter, saying: 

“Are you happy that Trump is still alive? Or disappointed to have missed your shot at taking out a ‘dictator who will destroy democracy.’ Physiognomy doesn’t lie.”

It is unclear what that is supposed to even mean. Another tweet read:

“I sent tweets aggressively screaming from the rooftops about self-defense and taking the current political situation more seriously than the media does. You’ve been warned. I wish haters spent the same effort protecting kids, preventing war, and defending American values.”

He then added that, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. I got knocked down from a punch I didn’t see coming. Good. Fewer tweets. More long form. More channeled rage, but same mindset: OFFENSE.”

Ryan drafted a playbook to make crypto a central issue in the 2024 election and helped build FairShake, a super PAC that has raised nearly $180 million to support pro-crypto candidates.  He voted for Biden in 2020 against Trump, but Gensler’s treatment of the crypto industry has apparently changed his mind. 

The Messari CEO said that his colleagues at Messari have spoken to him about the weird outbursts. He hinted at remorse, saying that he “ran too hot.” He then said he would address what happened “soon.”

Ryan didn’t respond to Cryptopolitan’s request for comment.