Chapo

Founder/CEO @AssureDefi | Pioneer of Reflections & Project KYC $2B+ of projects ASSURED✨ Security, Consulting & Growth for Web3 Builders

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

Mask off. A new era begins today.

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@dojitothemoji Gud times

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

Today we announced that Assure DeFi is shutting down. So many emotions...

I started this company because I got scammed. That's the whole origin story. Was tired of watching people hand over their money to a name that didn't exist, then watching that name vanish without a face attached to it and no consequence waiting on the other side. So I built the thing I wanted to exist. Put a real verified identity behind the person holding investor funds, and give the market a way to hold that person accountable if they do wrong with it.

1,500+ projects. Over $2B in project value. Six years of it. Successful to most (but not in my eyes - I had aspirations of it being an industry standard, a household name...and we never got there).

Running this taught me things I never asked to learn. It taught me how ugly this space can be when the money gets big enough. It taught me how much fraud is actually out there, far more than most people want to admit. And it taught me how brutally hard crime in this WEB3 world is to enforce. Knowing exactly who did it and getting a real world consequence for it are two completely different problems, and the gap between them is wider than anyone believes until they're living in it.

The business gave me real respect for the people doing some of that work. The @FBI and the @IRS_CI agents chasing digital asset fraud are doing something genuinely difficult with tools that weren't built for this. I've dealt with them. I've watched how much effort a single case takes. If you've never sat on that side of it, you have no idea.

Also...being an entrepreneur is hard. Like, REALLY BRUTAL. Taking a concept that doesn't exist yet and turning it into a business people actually pay for is harder than anyone tells you. I have so much more respect now for anyone who runs a business of any kind. Every single one of them is carrying something you can't see. It lives with you, you sleep with it, your family feels it, and it eats at you all day/all night. It's exhausting. Rewarding too...but exhausting.

I thought about shutting this down more times than I can count. Not once or twice. Countless times, in the worst stretches, at 3am, when it felt like nobody cared whether the space got cleaned up. If you're in the middle of that right now, my honest advice is to stick it out longer than feels reasonable. Most people quit right before it works. But also be willing to change. Be willing to pivot. And be honest enough with yourself to know when something has genuinely run its course, because staying too long is its own kind of failure.

Web3 isn't the market it was. The verification business went with it. That's just true, and pretending otherwise wouldn't serve anybody.

Here's what I do believe. We made this space better. The idea we introduced still makes sense and it will make sense forever, in crypto or anywhere else, because the underlying question never changes: who is the person responsible for other people's money, and what happens to them if they abuse it. That concept outlives the company. In some small way I left my thumbprint on a space I love, and nobody can take that from me. It will be my own personal legacy that I'm proud of, regardless of what happens from here.

To everyone who verified with us, audited with us, partnered with us, worked with us and worked for us, thank you. You made this real. Some of you took a chance on us when we were nothing but an idea and a Twitter account.

After thousands of hours and years of sleepless nights, actually shutting this down is emotionally difficult for me in a way I didn't fully expect. Six years of your life doesn't close cleanly just because the business entity is closed with the state, you stop taking on clients & shut down the service accounts. I'm sure it will continue to eat at me for at least a few months (hopefully not years, woof).

But this isn't a goodbye. It's just another step on the journey.

Most of our team has spent this year building https://t.co/O1JiXg4QCA - it now has my full attention. We build AI agent teams that businesses actually own, running in their own environment, learning their business instead of renting intelligence from a vendor. We run 100+ agents inside our own company every day. I'm going to make it every bit as successful as Assure DeFi was, and then some. We're helping people in a completely different way, and DAMN IT FEELS GOOD. I've always loved helping people, being a part of their success. That's my reward every day I grind.

I'm not leaving crypto. I'll always love this space. I'm still invested, still here, still reachable, same as always.

Here's to you 🥃
Thank you all. Genuinely.

[Assure DeFi @AssureDefi]

Assure DeFi is shutting down.

We verified more than 1,500 projects and over $2B in project value. We gave this space a way to trust founders it had no other way to check, and a lot of people used that before deciding where to put their money.

Web3 hasn't been the market it was for a long time now, and the verification business went with it. We're closing this cleanly.

If you have a KYC or an Audit with us, it stays valid. Records of every verification and audit we did will remain public and searchable after we close, so anyone checking your project can still check it. Message us if you want to talk through what that means for you.

We're not taking any new work from here.

Chapo is still around and still reachable, same as always.

The other thing to know is that most of this team has spent the year building Brainverse, and now it has our full focus. We build AI agent teams for businesses. The company owns the agents, owns the code, and owns everything those agents learn, and it all runs inside their own environment instead of being rented from a vendor. We run 100+ agents inside our own business every day.

It works for crypto projects too. One agent team does what you'd otherwise hire community, socials, dev support, research, support and market intel to do separately. If that's the problem you're sitting with, come talk to us.

Thanks to everyone who verified with us, audited with us and stuck around over the years.

https://t.co/XoEhy15eHw

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@GivnerAriel I am proud. At the same time, I failed.

It's possible to fail and succeed at the same time, this is definitely one of those cases.

No regrets - we worked as ethically as possible, helped a lot of people, did something pretty unique and left a mark on the space I love. #win

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@Kawsh_sol Appreciate that. We always tried to do things above board and the way things are SUPPOSED to be done.

It was quite the ride, thanks for the kind words man.

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@degenApe22 Thanks my dude - you're one of the real ones!

All is well over here, lot of mixed emotions.

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@ninja_dev3 Certainly was one helluva ride. And thanks for the shout.

I always wished better for this space, but at the end of the day we're all just degens at heart. That's the truth. Can't ever take it out of us.

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@KO_Markets So many emotions brother.

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@ComRifi Means a lot, appreciate that. Always tried to do things in the RIGHT way which is more than can be said for 99.9% of the space unfortunately. I always said, you can make $$ in this space legitimately. But I must say, crime seems easier lol

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@Cherey158796 BSC Migration on a project called BitBot back in the day. Six figure loss, nobody to go after. I started building Assure DeFi later that week and vowed for it to never happen to me again.

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@DxSaleMark @AssureDefi 🤝

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@BernieOnChain @AssureDefi You're one of the rare good ones too Bernie. Always loved working with you brother. Thanks for everything.

Much love

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@NobleIrons7de @AssureDefi Appreciate that. Here's to the next chapter!

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@CryptoPulse9 @AssureDefi Onward and upward

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@CarnoustieCad 25-30 mph with gusts up to 40.

Was quite the adventure.

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@0xAvseenko Glad they’re happy, & yes also good to have validation along the way from a business POV. 🤜🤛

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

Reza Ghaffari ran COO at a billion dollar global telecom before he started Xira Connect.

This is what he wrote to us about the agent team we just shipped him:

“Secret weapon.”

From a founder with that operating history, that’s the kind of feedback we replay.

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@leonabboud Dead internet theory becoming reality eh?

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@shitterr1x More rare than x would lead you to believe.

Also dropped a follow for your bio alone 🫡

Respect the docs

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@yasu0x1 Definitely love to hear it, no matter the circumstance.

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

@RateX_Network It’s a process but doable 💯

[Chapo @El_Crypto_Chapo]

Three ways teams adopt AI:

One big rollout.
A dozen pilot tools.
A small agent team.

In month six, only one of those is still moving work..