ABCDE Halts New Web3 Investments and Fundraising Initiatives Amid Strategic Shift

ABCDE, a $400 million Web3 investment fund, has officially halted all new investments and fundraising for its second round. The fund, however, continues to invest in current blockchain projects, ongoing post-investment activities.

The news came on April 19 from Du Jun, the co-founder of ABCDE and the founder of exchange Huobi, through an X (formerly Twitter) post. Jun pointed out that there will be no new funding in the works but that ABCDE will be dedicated to exit strategy and active maintenance of existing investments.

My own work direction will also gradually change from financial investment in the core market to strategic investment-driven and deep incubation-based, with greater emphasis on industrial synergy and long-term value creation," Jun said.

Last Investment and Portfolio Distribution

ABCDE's last public investment was in Soon (Solana Optimistic Network), an Ethereum Layer-2 scalability solution that raised $22 million via an NFT sale to commemorate its mainnet debut in January 2025.

The Soon mainnet boasts beating Solana, with block times of 50 milliseconds on average — much lower than Solana's 400 milliseconds.

Per CryptoRank, ABCDE's portfolio consists of:

28% in Bitcoin (BTC) scaling solutions

16% in Ethereum LSDFi (Liquid Staking Derivatives Finance)

12% in Layer-2s, restaking protocols, and smart contract platforms

Since the past three years, the fund has made investments worth over $40 million in 30+ blockchain initiatives, with a globally competitive internal rate of return (IRR).

New Incubator Brand: Vernal

The fund's turnaround comes after the introduction of a new incubator brand, Vernal, which will reveal its shareholders, incubation guidelines, and initial investments in May 2025.

Jun explained the strategic change was not prompted by capital limitations, but instead a philosophical difference with the prevailing crypto investment environment.

"Frankly speaking, I am more and more unable to agree with the present ecological environment of the primary market," he wrote.

Jun denounced the increasing short-term mindset in the business world, where companies hurry to list on exchanges without concern for creating long-term value. He also denounced other venture capital funds for prioritizing short-term price appreciation over long-term growth.

Industry Echoes Concerns

These were echoed this month by Charles Hoskinson, Cardano's founder, during Paris Blockchain Week. He signaled the danger of hostile tokenomics in today's market arrangement and appealed to collaborative models that can balance the power of centralized tech giants infiltrating crypto.

"You can't build a global ecosystem like this and you can't win like this," Hoskinson stated, challenging the community to reimagine how the token economy needs to function.

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