Ant plans to withdraw $100M from its fund, marking a crypto exit

Ant Group Co., a Chinese fintech behemoth, is to exit its stake in A&T Capital, withdrawing from a $100 million vehicle that was essential to its bet in the volatile digital-asset market.

People with knowledge of the situation claim that Yu Jun, the founding partner of A&T, quit months ago, just as the company was beginning to look into his conduct at work. Yu, a former senior at Ant, assisted the Jack Ma-backed fintech company in setting up A&T to invest in international cryptocurrency initiatives.

The venture firm's future is uncertain, according to the sources who asked to remain anonymous since the conversation was personal. As of Monday afternoon, its website gave users a timed-out error. Requests for comment from Yu and an Ant representative went unanswered. An inquiry for comment submitted via messaging to an A&T representative was not answered.

A&T, which was established in April 2021, has backed some of the most popular cryptocurrency firms, such as Ethereum software developer ConsenSys and digital asset lender Matrixport. Ant is one of A&T's largest investors.

According to PitchBook data, cryptocurrency venture capital fell to its lowest level since 2020 in the second quarter. The decline occurred in the wake of last year's collapse of virtual assets and coincided with a surge in interest in artificial intelligence technology.