Break up Capital, a digital asset hedge fund based by investor Zaheer Ebtikar, is shutting down, with the founder becoming a member of Peter Thiel-backed stablecoin startup Plasma.
Ebtikar introduced the information in an X publish on Tuesday, saying Break up Capital was worthwhile each in 2024 and 2025, and delivered over 100% in returns.
“We had been a high performing fund by each mark,” Ebtikar claimed, including that his determination to wind down the enterprise was pushed by a perception that the crypto market had shifted away from methods that hedge funds are designed to seize.
“The hedge fund mannequin didn’t make sense for crypto, in perpetuity,” he stated.
Ebtikar’s determination got here amid continued stress on crypto hedge funds, which have reportedly confronted more difficult market circumstances because the 2022 market downturn.
Crypto trade not rewards merchants chasing momentum, Ebtikar argues
Ebtikar described his early years in crypto as “PvP button-clicking,” the place merchants competed in fast-moving markets pushed by momentum and narratives. However after practically a decade, he stated these circumstances have modified.
“The trade not rewards merchants chasing momentum, it has matured into an area the place the one actual query is ‘What does the long run appear like and the place is the worth?’” he stated.
Ebtikar stated that many buyers, together with critics, had been in the end proper to query whether or not funds akin to Break up Capital had been sustainable in a quickly evolving market.
“As time went on, our conviction narrowed round a small variety of founders and verticals I genuinely believed in,” Ebtikar stated.
Betting on Plasma’s stablecoin imaginative and prescient
Ebtikar stated his conviction in Plasma grew after working carefully with its founding group all through 2024 and 2025.
Plasma is concentrated on constructing infrastructure for stablecoin settlement and world monetary entry. The platform raised $24 million in February final 12 months from buyers akin to Framework Ventures, Bitfinex, Peter Thiel and Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
Associated: Commonplace Chartered says quicker stablecoin turnover may curb demand
As chief technique officer at Plasma, Ebtikar will work throughout partnerships, progress and go-to-market efforts, in addition to interact with buyers and policymakers forward of the rollout of Plasma One and ongoing ecosystem enlargement.
He framed the transfer as half of a bigger perception that crypto is coming into a brand new part outlined much less by hypothesis and extra by constructing world monetary methods.
“The final dance of crypto’s previous period and the hope and deep perception that our work at Plasma can get us to a brand new golden age for our house,” Ebtikar stated.
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