35-Year-Old Investor Teams Up with 00s-Born Heir to Conquer Hong Kong's Crypto Scene: Targeting the Wealthy Market
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35-Year-Old Investor Teams Up with 00s-Born Heir to Conquer Hong Kong's Crypto Scene: Targeting the Wealthy Market
Whether it's family offices or the ultra-wealthy themselves, they place greater emphasis on securely and compliantly purchasing cryptocurrency assets.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Luo Fei
Produced by: DeepTech, Tencent News
Hong Kong has gradually returned from an unusually bustling two months ago to its usual lively rhythm. Many people chose to leave after the Web3 frenzy, while some decided to stay—among them Jason Huang and Christian Li, founders of NextGen Digital Venture ("NDV").
They represent two archetypes of those holding firm in Hong Kong's crypto scene: a middle-aged traditional finance investor and a post-00s native crypto enthusiast. Beyond both being Peking University alumni and sharing enthusiasm for digital currencies' future, they also share having earned what they consider sufficient wealth to achieve "financial freedom" in their respective fields.
This sets them apart from crypto gamblers hoping to get rich quick or "harvest韭菜 (cut the grass)." Like all traditional financiers, when entering the crypto space, Jason prefers operating within legal and compliant frameworks.
According to Tencent News DeepTech, NDV opened accounts and began building positions in April this year and now manages around $30 million in assets, primarily sourced from the founding team’s personal funds, certain cryptocurrency chip companies, listed companies, and family offices.
01 Buying Bitcoin at a Discount Through Compliance Channels
After graduating from Peking University in 2010, Jason worked at top-tier investment firms such as BAI and Qiming Venture Partners, focusing on internet-related investments. Starting in 2017, he began following numerous crypto projects and invested his own capital into many Web3 ventures and funds. Before founding NDV, he led China-related project investments at Blue Pool Capital.
Public information shows that Blue Pool manages assets for Jack Ma and Joe Tsai’s families—an elite family office based in Hong Kong. Tencent News DeepTech learned that the fund is primarily managed by Joe Tsai.
Jason truly entered the crypto world during the pandemic. After interacting extensively with product-side entrepreneurs, primary and secondary market investors, and family offices in the crypto space, he believed that with escalating geopolitical tensions and an approaching economic downturn, combined with Hong Kong’s openness toward digital currencies, there would soon be strong demand among traditional wealthy individuals and their family offices for legally compliant crypto asset allocations—most family offices recognize allocating 1–5% of assets to Bitcoin as an alternative investment strategy.
In early 2023, Jason met Christian, a post-00s crypto native deeply immersed in the crypto world, through a Peking University alumni network. Christian enrolled at Peking University in 2021. Over recent years, he has been managing his family’s crypto investments—a true first-generation crypto native who became fascinated with Bitcoin from day one. According to Tencent News DeepTech, even during the bear markets of the past two years, the family assets he managed continued generating profits within the crypto sector.
Jason aims to combine his experience in traditional finance with the insights of a young, native crypto expert like Christian to develop products suitable for Hong Kong’s current market.
Driven by a preference for Bitcoin’s hedging qualities, Jason偶然 came across GBTC—an investment product issued by Grayscale, founded in 2013. GBTC is a trust fund holding a large amount of Bitcoin, whose shares trade over-the-counter on the OTCQX market in the U.S. OTCQX is an over-the-counter exchange where retail investors cannot freely trade but must go through market makers, somewhat similar to China’s NEEQ.
GBTC essentially bridges compliant investors to Bitcoin investment. However, investors don’t buy physical Bitcoin directly; instead, they purchase shares representing ownership in the fund’s Bitcoin holdings. Per the fund agreement, these Bitcoins are permanently locked—neither redeemable nor sellable.
As of June 28, public data indicates GBTC should hold nearly 630,000 Bitcoins, managing approximately $19.2 billion in assets, yet the trust’s current market cap stands at about $13.5 billion. This implies GBTC trades at roughly 70% of its underlying Bitcoin value—effectively allowing investors to own Bitcoin at a 30% discount.
After June 16, GBTC experienced a sharp surge. This was fueled by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, filing for a spot Bitcoin ETF, raising market expectations. Previously, GBTC had applied three times to convert into a spot Bitcoin ETF under U.S. regulators but was rejected each time. Now, investors hope BlackRock’s application may succeed, which could pave the way for GBTC’s eventual conversion.
If GBTC successfully transitions into a spot ETF, its current 30% discount would rapidly disappear, enabling investors to gain an additional 43% return on top of Bitcoin’s price appreciation.
On June 15, prior to this run-up, GBTC’s market cap was $9.4 billion—meaning NDV’s earliest investors effectively bought Bitcoin held by GBTC at half the prevailing market price.
For Jason, more importantly, GBTC is a U.S.-listed trust company that satisfies Hong Kong regulatory requirements and aligns with institutional investors’ compliance standards.
Tencent News DeepTech learned that many institutional investors in Hong Kong face compliance restrictions preventing virtual assets from appearing on their balance sheets—but GBTC qualifies as a debt instrument, making it permissible.
02 Targeting Ultra-High-Net-Worth Investors
Jason told Tencent News DeepTech that he hopes future investors will approach the fund primarily for portfolio diversification rather than speculation. He and his team set a minimum investment threshold of $1 million, aiming for the investment amount not to exceed 5% of an investor’s total investable assets.
This implies investors should have at least $20 million in disposable investable assets—the benchmark for ultra-high-net-worth individuals, who form the core clientele of leading private banks like JPMorgan Chase.
Jason and Christian told Tencent News DeepTech that over the past month, they’ve conducted product roadshows among their networks. As expected, interest mainly came from ultra-wealthy individuals and their family offices. According to Tencent News DeepTech, decision-makers at many top-tier Hong Kong-based family offices today tend to be younger generations—second and third-generation heirs.
Christian noted that, based on his experience, younger heirs are generally more receptive to crypto products compared to older generations. Additionally, under current conditions, many senior-generation tycoons have also begun recognizing the importance of including crypto assets in their portfolios.
Jason’s network leans more toward established family offices and senior-generation tycoons. After hearing his pitch, many gained deeper understanding of crypto investing, moving beyond earlier perceptions equating crypto with scams or “grass harvesting.”
Tencent News DeepTech learned that over the past six to seven years, many wealthy individuals experimented with crypto products only to be overwhelmingly "harvested." Most such losses occurred in Singapore.
These tycoons told Tencent News DeepTech that due to high turnover in Singapore, conducting individual and corporate background checks is difficult. Many local crypto projects and founders are fraudulent, making it easy to fall victim. In contrast, Hong Kong functions more like a close-knit community, where cross-verification and thorough due diligence are easier, reducing fraud risks.
Jason told Tencent News DeepTech that whether it’s family offices or the ultra-rich themselves, their top priority remains safe and compliant access to crypto assets—this cautiousness explains why most have delayed entering the crypto space. These investors remain relatively conservative, primarily seeking independent exposure outside dollar and renminbi-denominated assets.
However, following BlackRock’s announcement on June 16 of its spot Bitcoin ETF application, prospects for individual investors to access secure crypto products are increasing. Consequently, GBTC’s appeal as a stable, compliant vehicle may diminish over time. Tencent News DeepTech learned that several Hong Kong institutions are actively collaborating with regulators to study launching a spot Bitcoin ETF locally. Still, no concrete progress has been announced. Before any launch, Hong Kong regulators must first resolve custody issues for physical Bitcoin.
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