The world's top crypto venture capital firms are turning into a fat dragon that can swallow anything but can no longer leave a fatal wound.
Just today, while the market was still alarmed by the $284 million outflow from ETFs and agitated by HTX's 15% high interest rate, a piece of news from the top of the industry pyramid, like a mild tonic, was poured into the market's throat.
HashKey Capital, the undisputed king of Asian crypto venture capital, announced the completion of its fourth fund's first round of fundraising, easily raising $250 million and steadily moving toward its ultimate goal of $500 million.
The press release was perfectly accurate and comprehensive: “Diversified strategy,” “Focus on global infrastructure,” “Combining public and private markets,” and “Strong support from institutional investors, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals.”
Is this a picture of a prosperous era, a gathering of elites, abundant capital, and a promising future?
wrong.
Take a deep breath and smell the barely concealed scent of aging and weariness beneath the fresh ink of this $250 million worth of ink. This is not the clarion call of a battle; it is a behemoth completing its final, and most conservative, evolutionary form.
I. $250 million: Caught between "giant mergers and acquisitions" and "retail leverage," it is merely a gentle sigh.
Let's throw this $250 million into the already boiling pot of financial broth and see what kind of splash it makes.
On the same day, we witnessed:
Industry mergers and acquisitions: US$8.6 billion
The unrealized loss of a single leveraged gambler's position: $141 million
Net outflow of ETF funds in a single day: $284 million
In contrast, HashKey Capital's $250 million first hurdle, raised over several months with the support of top LPs, appears remarkably calm, even somewhat weak.
It's no longer the cheetah that pounces on blood at the first sign of trouble. It's become a giant elephant that needs carefully planned diets, balanced nutrition, and avoiding tough nuts to crack. When Coinbase can casually throw around $2.9 billion to acquire Deribit, and when a gambler can carry a $1.7 billion position and fight on the leaderboard, half of the fundraising amount for a top venture capital fund seems more like a gentle commentary on this era of rampant capital: the golden age of wildly growing venture capital is giving way to giant monopolies and debt frenzy.
Second, the "diversification strategy": When hunters start casting a wide net, it's only because they can no longer find a whale worth going all-in on.
The most crucial and intriguing word in the press release is "multi-strategy".
They announced they will simultaneously focus on: infrastructure, scalability, large-scale applications, public markets, liquidity creation, selective private placements...
Doesn't it sound like an all-encompassing Manchu Han Imperial Feast menu?
But please translate the subtext behind a top venture capital firm's "diversification": "Ladies and gentlemen, we can no longer be sure where the next disruptive opportunity that could define an era lies. So, we've decided to put a little bet on every possible pie."
This is a candid expression of confusion among top elites.
In the previous cycle, their narrative was extremely focused: betting on Layer 1 public chains, betting on DeFi Lego, betting on the NFT paradigm. Today, however, with the Layer 1 war seemingly subsiding and the DeFi and NFT stories aging, they face a gentle swamp called "infrastructure" and "mass application." There's no clear target, only a vague direction.
"Diversification" is not a display of power, but rather a manifestation of the inability to concentrate firepower. When a scalpel, which should never miss its target, begins to strive to become a Swiss Army knife that can cut vegetables, chop wood, and tighten screws, its mission as a "sharp weapon" has actually come to an end.
III. The Birth of the "Comprehensive Predator": It Will Elegantly Devour Everything, Except for "Revolution"
The most dangerous shift for this fund is its claim to "combine public market investments with liquidity-creating cross-investments".
This is no longer pure venture capital. It's a Frankenstein's monster of venture capital (VC), hedge fund, market maker, and private equity (PE).
what does that mean?
This means that HashKey Capital may use its fund's money to invest in a star project at a very low price in the private round (acting as a VC), while using its related trading room to make a market, provide liquidity, and boost valuation in the public market (acting as a market maker and hedge fund), and finally achieve a perfect harvest of multiple benefits when the project goes public or is acquired (acting as a PE).
It transformed itself from an "early participant" in the project into a "comprehensive predator" that operates throughout the entire project lifecycle.
The infrastructure it invests in may become a conduit for capturing liquidity in the future.
The applications it invests in may become the entry point for attracting users in the future.
It will no longer need to "gamble" on a great revolution; it can simply make a fortune by skillfully operating a closed cycle of capital interests.
What does this mean for the industry?
This means that the interests of top-tier capital are no longer entirely tied to "disruptive innovation," but rather deeply tied to "system stability and exploitability." They will tend to invest in projects that can integrate into the existing ecosystem of financial giants rather than challenge them; they will prefer to see markets that are active and predictable, rather than volatile and disruptive.
They have quietly transformed from “risk-sharers” in the crypto revolution into “rent-seekers” who maintain the existing (even if they helped establish) order and profit margins.
IV. Final Prediction: When Venture Capitalists Become "All-Round Asset Managers," Crypto Will Become Wall Street's Backyard
Therefore, HashKey Capital's new $250 million fund is definitely not ammunition for innovators.
It is a clear signal that the crypto venture capital industry is facing a midlife crisis and its ultimate transformation:
Investment styles are aging: from aggressive, focused "gamblers" to stable, diversified "managers".
Neutralization of interests: from "allies" who overthrow the old system to "neutral brokers" who profit from arbitrage between the old and new systems.
Their ultimate goal is to become traditional: their aim is no longer to cultivate the next Satoshi Nakamoto, but to transform themselves into the “Blackstone” or “Bridgewater” of the crypto world—an omnipotent, ubiquitous traditional asset management giant whose interests are deeply intertwined with the system itself.
So stop cheering for that $250 million.
This is not a lifeline for innovation at all.
This is the final silk lining draped over the crypto industry, hand-woven by the smartest capital. It makes the industry look more respectable, more institutionalized, and more accepted by the traditional world.
But the price is that the once rough, dangerous, infinitely possible, and rebellious encrypted soul is slowly ceasing to breathe beneath this smooth silk.
When even the most elite hunters begin to lay down their guns and raise sheep, you should know that no more breathtaking legends will be born on this grassland.
Yes, there will only be more and more plump, strong sheep, waiting to be sheared regularly—docile flocks. $BTC
