"Top Students from Tsinghua and Peking University" vs. "Grassroots Players": Which Entry Ticket Does Web3 Prefer?

Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher

Editor: TB, ChainCatcher

Strong desire is human nature; while education is the most straightforward and eye-catching line in the "stronger script" written by society.

We have long been accustomed to equating high education with intelligence, reliability, and potential. Ivy League schools, Tsinghua, Peking University, MIT, Stanford—these sound like components of some "success formula." But does this formula hold in the crypto industry?

In a crypto world that emphasizes decentralization, practical experience, and a fast pace, what is the actual role of education?

The Clash of Grassroots and Elites

In the early wild days of the industry, the entrepreneurs who could truly run models, establish consensus, and build communities were often a group of grassroots players driven by passion, willing to take risks, and motivated by faith. They attracted users, drove growth, built communities, and created reputations in the most primitive ways, pushing the crypto industry from zero to one, achieving its initial barbaric growth.

However, as the industry landscape continues to evolve, this situation is quietly changing. The crypto market is transitioning from the "grassroots stage" to the "institutional stage," where capital begins to value governance structures, compliance capabilities, and technical depth. Under this trend, entrepreneurs with prestigious backgrounds are starting to flood in and gradually stand out in the new cycle.

It is this clash between grassroots and elite that has made the question of "Do crypto talents really need education?" a hot topic in the community and market.

Top Projects ≠ Top Universities?

According to the XFounders report, among the hundreds of applications received in 2024 for crypto startups that raised over $1 million, 19% of the founders graduated from universities ranked in the top 100 globally, while another 16% came from institutions ranked 101 to 500 in the QS World University Rankings.

Meanwhile, according to crypto KOL BroLeon, reviewing the top ten crypto projects by market capitalization (excluding stablecoins), there are representatives with high education backgrounds from Ivy League schools and the "Beijing-Qinghua" system, such as Tron founder Justin Sun and AVAX founder Emin Gün Sirer; there are also notable figures like CZ and Vitalik who dropped out to directly enter the industry. Additionally, founders from renowned universities like UCSD and Moscow State University, as well as entrepreneurs from non-traditional schools like the University of Houston and the University of Colorado, are also present.

Image source: @BroLeonAus

Star projects that frequently highlighted their "prestigious backgrounds" in early financing or promotion, such as Eigenlayer, LayerZero, Worldcoin, Celestia, and Hyperliquid created by Jeff Yan with a Harvard background, along with Conflux led by the Tsinghua Yao Class team. From the current trends in coin prices and market attention, their performances show significant differentiation, and there is no unified consensus that "prestigious background = successful project."

Community Perspective: Is Education "Just a Bonus" or "Irrelevant"?

The relationship between education and success in the Web3 world is controversial. @WutalkWu once posted: "CZ and Vitalik are both college dropouts, and FTX was all Ivy League graduates who ended up in prison; education has little to do with success in the crypto market."

Trader Biupa-TZC shares a similar view. He mentioned that he attended a top 20 university in the U.S. for his undergraduate studies and pursued a master's degree at the London Business School, but in the crypto space, education is not the key to gaining recognition. He believes: "Trading and education are not necessarily linked; what people should focus on is my trading and thinking."

CZ also shared his views on education. He admitted that while prestigious schools have many talented individuals, they may not necessarily fit the "underdog mentality" of the crypto industry. Education ≠ IQ, IQ ≠ success. In his view, the current education system may cultivate people who are good at completing tasks and excelling in exams, but these traits may not align with the realities of entrepreneurs "rolling in the mud."

Education is a plus, but not a deciding factor.

Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, stated that this industry does not blindly worship education; we worship ability. Without a degree, let your GitHub stars speak for you. With a degree, prove yourself through actual output. Ultimately, the winners are those who can transform cognitive gaps into execution power.

Gracy summarized: "A prestigious background can add 20 points to a Web3 entrepreneur's financing story, increasing VC trust by 15 points, but for project survival rates, it is almost 0 points." What truly determines whether a project can survive is whether it addresses real and sufficiently painful market needs. Education is a lever, but it is definitely not a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Binance co-founder He Yi stated, "Having a good education is fine, but not having one is also okay. Knowledge does not equal skills, nor does it equal ways of thinking, and it certainly does not equal the mental strength to withstand praise and criticism. Most abilities are learned through daily improvement, and character is even more precious. Whether a candidate is honest, logical, resilient, and has a growth mindset is more important."

In the world of Web3, education is neither a ticket nor a shackle—it is just one chapter in many narratives. You can use it to tell a story that is more easily remembered by the capital market, or you may prove yourself through community contributions and product implementations beyond your resume.

So, do you think education is important in the crypto field?