After ‘Civil War’ and Anti-Immigrant Tweets, Ryan Selkis Told to Cool It by His Crypto Startup’s Leadership

Ryan
Selkis,
founder
and
CEO
of
crypto
data
platform
Messari,
rarely
if
ever
holds
back
on
social
media,
regularly
lobbing
insults
via
X
(formerly
Twitter)
at
Gary
Gensler’s
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
and
others.

Still,
his
tirades
this
week
after
an
assassin’s
bullet
grazed
Donald
Trump
stood
out,
even
for
Selkis.
And
colleagues
at
Messari,
which
has
financial
backing
from
major
firms
such
as
Mike
Novogratz’s
Galaxy
Digital
and
hedge-fund
titan
Brevan
Howard
and
was

reportedly
once
valued
at
$300
million,
apparently
asked
him
to
cool
it.

“Just
had
a
terrific
‘tough
love’
session
with
Messari
leadership,
and
I
can’t
tell
you
how
much
I
appreciate
people
who
approach
me
in
good
faith
and
help
rein
me
in
because
they
know
my
vision
and
where
my
heart
is,”
he
posted
Thursday.
“I
ran
too
hot
this
week,
and
will
address
that
in
full
soon.”

So
what’s
this
about?
It
might
have
something
to
do
with
how
worked
up
he
got
on
X
after
the
attempt
on
Trump’s
life.
(As
of
Thursday,
he’d

made
his
tweets
private.
They
remain
visible
to
his
354,000
or
so
followers.)

“Anyone
that
votes
against
Trump
at
this
point
can
die
in
a
f*cking
fire,”
he
posted
on
X
the
afternoon
of
the
shooting.
“Literal
war.”
(This
post
has
since
been
deleted.)
He
added
in
another
tweet:
“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,
violence,
at
least
in
self-defense,
was
on
his
mind.
“Bolshevism
cannot
be
cured
with
votes.
We
must
excise
the
metastatic
cancer
and
evil
of
the
left,
by
force
if
necessary.
This
is
why
the
Second
Amendment
was
and
is
so
important.
Do
not
initiate
violence,
but
if
it’s
brought
to
your
door,
finish
with
violence.”

War
still
was,
too.
“Unfortunately,
unity
can
sometimes
only
be
achieved
after
a
decisive
victory.
This
is
one
of
those
moments.
The
previous
three
were
in
1776,
1860,
and
1942.
Praying
for
peace.
Preparing
for
war.”

Selkis
echoed
the
MAGA
movement’s
anti-immigration
rhetoric.
He
asked
an
X
user
if
they
were
“a
citizen
or
just
a
green
card
holder?”
The
person
replied
that
they
are
a
green
card
holder
about
to
apply
for
citizenship.
Selkis’
response:
“I
hope
we
send
you
back.
…
You
are
not
entitled
to
citizenship.
I
hope
it
stays
that
way.”

Selkis
posted
pictures
of
a
bloodied
Trump
right
after
he
was
injured.
Beneath
them
was
the

famous
photo
of
then-President
Barack
Obama
and
current
President
Joe
Biden
in
a
conference
room
as
Osama
bin
Laden
was
killed
by
Seal
Team
6.
Selkis
wrote,
“Too
true.”

He
addressed
another
post
to
a
prominent
Washington
crypto
critic,
Sen.
Elizabeth
Warren
(D-Mass.),
posting
side-by-side
photos
of
her
and
Trump’s
would-be
assassin,
Thomas
Matthew
Crooks.
“Are
you
happy
that
Trump
is
still
alive?
Or
disappointed
to
have
missed
your
shot
in
taking
out
a
‘dictator
who
will
destroy
democracy.’
Physiognomy
doesn’t
lie
…”

Use
of
the
term
physiognomy,
a

long-discredited
practice
of
discerning
someone’s
character
from
how
they
look,
was
an
apparent
attempt
to
imply
a
physical
resemblance
between
the
bespectacled
duo.

He
replied
to
a
tweet
from
SEC
Chair
Gensler:
“We’re
so
close
to
your
inevitable
jail
sentence,
I
can
almost
taste
it.”

Selkis,
when
contacted
by
a
CoinDesk
journalist,
declined
to
elaborate
on
his
posts
the
past
week.

This
is
not
the
sort
of
online
behavior
one
normally
associates
with
a
CEO,
particularly
one
with
serious
venture
capital
backing
–
though
brashness
is
not
uncommon
among
crypto
users
of
social
media
(and
X’s
owner,
Elon
Musk,
is
known
to
push
the
envelope,
too).

Messari,
a
platform
that
lets
users
monitor
and
examine
data
about
digital
assets,
plays
an
important
role
in
crypto.
Selkis
has
emerged
as
a
key
part
of
the
industry’s
attempt
to
regain
influence
in
Washington
following
the
disappearance
of
Sam
Bankman-Fried’s
massive
clout
there.

Selkis
spoke
to
the
crowd,
standing
beside
Trump,
earlier
this
year
at

the
former
president’s
NFT
gala
at
Mar-a-Lago.

Read
more:



Ryan
Selkis
Goes
to
Washington

After
his
initial
“tough
love”
tweet
on
Thursday,
Selkis
tweeted
further.
He
wasn’t
much
quieter.

“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
said.

Also:
“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.”

Michelle
Bloom
contributed
to
this
story.