Compliance costs have quietly become the gatekeeper of the startup world, and the irony is brutal: regulations meant to protect consumers now just protect incumbents. Every new KYC rule, tax filing, and licensing fee is a toll booth that only well-funded companies can afford to pass. That doesn't stop innovation, it just forces it into gray areas or offshore havens where nobody has oversight. We're not making the ecosystem safer, we're making it sterile and slow. If the goal is to kill risk-taking, mission accomplished.