ABCDE pressed the pause button, what is the current situation of Chinese VC survival?

Author: Nian Qing

Recently, ABCDE co-founder Du Jun officially announced that ABCDE Capital has stopped investing in new projects and suspended the second phase of the fund raising plan, and announced the launch of a new incubator product Vernal. ABCDE's 19 shots over the past year are not particularly conservative, and despite their ample ammunition, they are still unable to resist the current boredom of the crypto market.

Since the beginning of the revolution of FUD VC, Crypto VC has begun to press the pause button under hellish difficulty, some have chosen not to shoot any more and only retain core personnel to maintain post-investment services, and some VCs have begun to seek to transform into secondary investment, projects, incubators, crypto marketing, etc.

Compared with European and American VCs in the same period, Asian VCs seem to be more conservative. Lao Bai, a partner of ABCDE investment research, asked a question a month ago - why are we "dumb fire" in Asia, Europe and the United States are still "firing", what is the reason why they dare to pull the trigger in this valuation? In this regard, he speculated that the reasons may include different exit cycles, different investment decisions, and the fact that Asian VCs are more concerned about yields in terms of values, and European and American counterparts are idealistic and long-term.

In addition, according to investor data on the RootData platform, in terms of the number of sales in the past year, most VCs in Chinese-speaking regions have adopted a more conservative investment strategy, with less than 10 sales. Of course, there are also leading venture capitals such as Animoca Brands, OKX Ventures, HashKey Capital, SNZ Holding, Waterdrip Capital, Mask Network, Nomad Capital, NGC Ventures, etc., which still maintain high-frequency trading, and are still making more than 20 shots in the past year. IOSG Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, SevenX Ventures, LongHash Ventures, PAKA, etc., although they still made more than 10 investments in the past year, the number of investments was significantly lower than that of the previous year.

This article reviews the current situation of major Chinese-speaking VCs/Chinese-founded VCs with fewer sales in the past year.

(Note: The above data is based on publicly disclosed investments and does not rule out the possibility of undisclosed internal operations or investments.) )

Continue Captial

The number of investments in Continue Captial, founded by OG Pima in the currency circle, is only 0 in the past year, and the most recent investment was in March last year, and it participated in io.net's Series A financing. Pima is a senior investor in the currency circle, entered the field of digital currency in 2013, and has invested in a number of well-known blockchain projects. At present, both the two co-founders and Continue Capita are in a state of "lying flat", and the official blog and Twitter are not operating. The most recent news about Continue Capita was in October last year, when Lin Weihong, co-founder of Continue Capital, was suspected of having $35 million stolen, and Lin Weihong himself posted a response on the X platform: "I accidentally exposed that I didn't quit the circle, and I passively made a charity headline."

OP Crypto/Inception Capital

OP Crypto completed the initial fund raising of $30 million after changing its name to Inception Capital at the beginning of last year, and made frequent 16 investments in the six months after the completion of the fundraising. The last investment was in August last year. However, the number of investments made by Inception Capital in the past year is only 6.

In mid-2024, Inception Capital founder and general partner David Gan lost contact for several months, and the limited partners voted to go into a "controlled liquidation" of the fund, suspending the remaining 25% of Ventures Fund I's capital. At the end of June, Gan reappeared, agreeing to relinquish control of the fund's multisig wallet and allow LPs to exit.

Inception Capital has been largely shut down since the incident, with a number of executives leaving. Calvin Du, COO & Head of Research & Head of Platforms and Investor at Inception Capital, co-founded TMR Ventures, a new RWA-focused specialist fund, in 2025.

LD Capital

Capital has only made 8 investments in the past year, and the most recent investment was made in September last year, which is significantly lower than the previous investment frequency. LD Capital also has secondary market investment and exchange-traded funds, including Beco Fund, FoF, hedge funds, Meta Fund, and others. In 2023, LD Capital also launched Cycle Ventures, an early-stage investment fund focused on Infra, AI, and Dapp.

Yi Lihua, founder of LD Capital, said that the decline of Web3 investors is due to changes in lock-up rules, low investment success rate, and "good projects, low valuations, and large amounts" that constitute a "triangular problem" that investors cannot have both. He also pointed out that many investors end up with only a few tenths of a quota, which may not only bear financial losses, but also face reputational risks.

Bixin VenturesBixin Ventures

founded by the Chinese currency circle OG Star, has only made 5 investments in the past year, and the most recent investment was in January this year, which is a significant decrease compared with 2024. Bixin Ventures is the investment arm of Bixin Group. Founded in 2014, Bixin Group is one of Asia's largest cryptocurrency wallet providers, dedicated to providing users with the tools to store and manage blockchain assets. Bixin Ventures' social media is still in regular operation, and team members are active on social media.

Xingkong, the founder of Bixin Ventures, also recently vented his bitterness on social media: "Spending money to become a big enemy can probably describe the fate of VC in this cryptocurrency circle" "Everyone has a misunderstanding about VC, VC is the biggest leek in the cryptocurrency circle, and VC's LP is the worst existence in the cryptocurrency circle." The money earned by exchanges, project parties, and KOLs is all paid by VC."

LK Venture

LK Venture is a venture capital institution founded by Wang Feng, the founder of Mars Finance, which invests in blockchain technology and application projects, formerly known as Consensus Lab. LK Venture has only made 2 investments in the past year, and the most recent investment was in August last year. Despite the suspension of primary investment, the two partners, Wang Feng and Leo Deng, are still active on social media.

LK Venture founder Feng Wang also founded NFT marketplace Element and crypto media MarsBit News. Recently, Wang Feng has been paying close attention to new technologies such as AI and robotics in addition to crypto on social media, and he said in a recent update: "Bitcoin, Ethereum and SOL are the company's good crypto asset portfolio. For Bitcoin, we still have to "bet" on, stockpile, and we also care about XRP and SUI. It is not excluded that we will fully adopt the Bitcoin standard management company. "

Mint Ventures

Mint Ventures has not invested in the primary market for almost a year, with the most recent investment being in November 2022. Its business focus has gradually shifted to investment research and the secondary market, and its social platform and podcast "WEB3 Mint To Be" are still updated with high frequency.

Youbi Capital

Youbi Capital has only made 3 investments in the past year, the most recent investment was in November last year, and the number of investments has decreased since 2022. Youbi Capital's official social media platform is still operating as a regular post-investment service. Chen Li is an early Bitcoin miner in China. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry and worked as a scientist at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, where he won awards for the development of antibody drugs. In 2015, he was exposed to Bitcoin mining through a college roommate, and then co-founded Youbi Capital in 2017.

EVG

Everest Ventures Group (EVG) has only made 7 investments in the past year, with the most recent investment in November last year, which is significantly less than in 2024. But EVG is strictly an operating group with a very broad business scope, with a global team of 300 people, the group has built and launched a diverse product portfolio covering a variety of use cases, such as Aspen Digital, a crypto asset management platform, and has launched a range of products involving SocialFi, GameFi, and fintech such as Defi product Mugen Interactive, crypto social investment platform Kikitrade, Brands such as LiveArt.

Fundamental Labs Fundamental Labs

only made 1 investment in the past year, with the most recent investment being made in July last year. Its founder, Raymond Yuan, has many years of venture capital experience and a successful investment track record in semiconductors, TMT, artificial intelligence, and other fields. In 2016, he moved to the crypto industry and founded CTH Group, with three core businesses including Blockchain Infrastructure as a Service Atlas, Cryptocurrency Venture Capital Fundamental Labs, and Digital Asset Management IDEG. In 2023, Raymond Yuan also founded WSPN, a global digital payments company, and launched WUSD, a USD stablecoin.

DeFiance Capital

DeFiance Capital has only 1 investment in the past year, and the most recent investment was in May last year, and the number of investments has decreased significantly. The latest is the founder's own angel round of funding for the MIT-Harvard team Optimum. Despite the reduction in the number of sales, DeFiance Capital is still active on social media and was still hiring at the beginning of the year. The founder, Arthur Cheong, continues to output as a well-known KOL. Recently, he said that the collusion between projects and market makers to manipulate prices, and the CEX's blindness is the main reason why the current market cannot invest.

Matrixport Ventures

Matrixport Ventures has only made 2 investments in the past year, with the most recent investment being made in December last year. In 2024, I invested 8 times a year. Matrixport Ventures is the venture capital arm of Matrixport, Asia's largest crypto financial services platform. Matrixport was founded by Jihan Wu, whose products include Cactus Custody, Spot OTC, Fixed Income, Structured Products, Loans, and Asset Management.

Basics Capital

The number of investments in Basics Capital in the past year is only 4, and the most recent investment was in December last year, which is significantly less than the number of investments in 2024.

7 O'Clock Capital

7 O'Clock Capital has made 0 investments in the past year, with the most recent investment being made in April last year. Its social platform is still in regular operation, but investment research and other aspects are basically at a standstill.

Old Fashion Research

The number of investments in Old Fashion Research in the past year is only 1, and the most recent investment was in September last year. OFR is a multi-strategy blockchain investment fund founded in July 2021 by former Binance executives and investment teams. At the beginning of last year, a number of partners left.

Puzzle Ventures

Puzzle Ventures has only made 3 investments in the past year, with the most recent investment being made in December last year. Its founder, Qi Wang, is also the co-founder and COO of DODO, a decentralised trading platform, and a co-founder and general partner of Metrics Ventures, a liquidity fund in the secondary market. The social media of the official and founder of Puzzle Ventures is in a state of disservice.

Redline DAO

Redline DAO has only made 1 investment in the past year, and the most recent investment was in August last year. At the beginning of 2024, Redline DAO announced its upgrade to Redline Labs, announcing that it will shift from investment to full-scale project incubation. After the project, the research focus will continue to monitor the development and ecosystem growth of blockchains such as BTC and Solana. Its founder and managing partner, Kris Li, is a successful trader in his own right, focusing on the secondary market.

In addition to the above crypto native funds, there are also some Chinese-speaking comprehensive venture capitalists who have significantly reduced the number of investments in the crypto sector

• and the number of investments in Zonff Partners in the past year is only 2. The most recent investment was made in November;
• The number of investments in Danhua Capital (DHVC) in the past year is only 0, and the most recent investment was in June last year;
• Sky9 Capital (Sky9) has only made 5 investments in the past year, the most recent investment was in August last year, and Niu Fengxuan, a partner in charge of investment in the crypto field, left in April last year;
• Initiate Capital has only made 2 investments in the past year, with the most recent investment being in November last year.