The traditional VC route really has not paid off so far. It would've done far, far better going into the coins themselves.
This basically goes up with anything in the crypto world that can be invested in.
1. Whatever form of mining -> Buying Bitcoin itself has always been far more rewarding.
2. Lending -> Buying Bitcoin itself has always been far more rewarding.
3. Investing in whatever startup or business -> Buying Bitcoin itself has always been far more rewarding.
And I could probably continue with far more examples, but you get the point. I have never seen anything in investing my money into whatever crypto related investment option, because I know that investing directly in Bitcoin itself will greatly outperform any other investment by a huge distance. It surprises me that people still haven't noticed this.

I agree with that. The difficulty of mining is rising too fast. It is better to buy the coin itself.