Ant to pull out of US$100 million fund in retreat from crypto

CHINESE fintech behemoth Ant Group is planning to unwind its investment in A&T Capital, retreating from a US$100 million vehicle that was central to its bet on a turbulent digital-asset arena, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move comes months after A&T’s founding partner Yu Jun resigned, around the time the firm started an investigation into his behaviour in the workplace. Yu, a former Ant executive, helped the Jack Ma-backed fintech conglomerate set up A&T to invest in offshore crypto projects.

It’s unclear if the venture firm will continue to operate or snag a new investor, the people said, asking to remain unidentified discussing a private matter. Its website returned a timed-out error to users as of Monday (Sep 18) afternoon. An Ant spokesperson and Yu didn’t respond to requests for comment. A representative for A&T didn’t respond to a messaged request for comment.

Founded in April 2021, A&T has invested in some of crypto’s hottest startups, including digital-asset lender Matrixport and Ethereum software maker ConsenSys. Ant is a major investor in A&T.

Crypto venture funding slid to the lowest since 2020 in the second quarter, PitchBook data showed. The drop followed last year’s virtual-asset meltdown and came amid an explosion of interest in artificial intelligence technology. BLOOMBERG