Interview & Writing: Anderson Sima, Executive Editor of Foresight News

Interviewee: Jason Huang (@Jhy256), Founder of NextGen Digital Venture

British science fiction writer Douglas Adams commented on technological progress: 'Any technology that is born when I am between 15 and 35 years old is a revolutionary product that will change the world. Any technology that is born after I am 35 years old is an unnatural violation that will be punished by nature.' Jason is 36 this year, and he believes he has found that revolutionary product.

During the Christmas holiday in 2023, Jason spent time with his family in Osaka. On the return trip, he made a prediction about the crypto market at the airport (at that time the Bitcoin price was about $43,000), stating that the price of Bitcoin is expected to break $50,000 by May 2024 and reach $100,000 by the end of the year.

Reality is often more exciting than predictions. December 2024 has not yet arrived, and Bitcoin has already surpassed $99,000, with Jason’s prophecy only half a step away. He estimates that the LPs of the first fund he founded, NextGen Digital Venture, will receive returns exceeding 300%.

NDV's first fund focuses on cryptocurrency stocks and was established in cooperation with the cryptocurrency wealth management company Metalpha (NASDAQ code: MATH). At the time of establishment, the U.S. spot ETF had not yet passed, and traditional financial money had not yet paid attention to digital assets. NDV captured the rise of digital assets during the entire ETF approval process.

Jason Huang has extensive experience in the venture capital field, having worked at Huaxing Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, and other institutions. In 2022, at the age of 34, he chose to leave the family office Blue Pool Capital, established by Jack Ma and Cai Chongxin. Amidst some confusion, he plunged into the cryptocurrency field and founded NextGen Digital Venture. In the same year, the Golden State Warriors, led by Stephen Curry, who is the same age as him, won the NBA championship for the season; this is his favorite team and player. 'Curry's championship in 2022 gave me immense courage to start my business,' Jason Huang said.

Shortly after founding NDV in 2023, I interviewed Jason regarding the dynamics of the cryptocurrency market at that time, and some content mirrors today. A year later, I invited NDV's founder Jason Huang again to discuss the changes in the cryptocurrency industry over the past year and future investment trends. The following is the edited interview content.

A return of more than 3 times in 20 months

Foresight News: When I interviewed last year, NDV's first fund had just launched. At that time, the Bitcoin spot ETF had not yet been launched, but you were very firm in holding Grayscale's trust products. Can you briefly introduce the situation of NDV over the past year?

Jason: One of the most important things we did in the first year was to allocate most of the fund's positions to GBTC, which was trading at a discount to Bitcoin at that time. Afterward, it gradually recovered, and after the ETF was approved, the discount was completely restored. At the end of last year, we realized that after the ETF approval, it would turn into a pure Bitcoin index, so we switched strategies and turned to stocks related to cryptocurrencies, such as Coinbase and MicroStrategy this year.

Overall, we have believed from the beginning that the best investment method is securities or stocks related to cryptocurrencies, as it is difficult for traditional finance to directly buy coins in the first step into digital assets. Stocks are a way that institutional investors are more familiar with, and our positioning is to help traditional finance invest in areas related to cryptocurrencies and gain returns. We entered the market on March 29 last year at 29,000, and now the fund has an overall floating profit of more than 3 times, outperforming Bitcoin by a lot.

Foresight News: Looking back at the decision made at that time, coming from the traditional VC investment field, there must be many different voices, right?

Jason: Indeed, many people do not understand, and even now friends still ask me the reason for my decision back then. But I think finance is nothing more than innovation on the two ends of funding and assets, and you must grab one end. Years ago, Sequoia China and Hillhouse also rose with the two major industrial waves of China's internet and healthcare. If cryptocurrency develops, we will have the same level of opportunity; it just takes time. Our fund is not yet two years old, and everything is just beginning.

Foresight News: So what is NDV's positioning in the market?

Jason: As I just mentioned, the essence of finance is innovating on the funding side and the asset side. NDV's positioning essentially does two things:

1) Bring traditional financial money into Crypto

2) Bring excellent assets into Crypto

We have completed the first task through stock funds, and next, with changes in the U.S. regulatory environment, we can pay attention to the second task. Changes in the management of the U.S. SEC may bring a whole new opportunity to Crypto. When Tokens can pay dividends and can be issued compliantly at lower costs, it may bring new changes to the world of coins. I am seriously researching which assets may bring new changes. This will be a significant theme in the coming years.

Bitcoin's future: National reserve asset?

Foresight News: What changes might the cryptocurrency market undergo after Trump takes office?

Jason: I think the most important thing is the possible change of the SEC chairman; Gary has a very high probability of resigning (editor's note: shortly after the interview ended, Gary announced his resignation). This may change the regulatory policies for the Bitcoin market. As for the market feedback, originally if the Democrats were elected, the rise might be more moderate. Now, Trump's policies are friendlier, and the market is racing ahead, making it harder to predict.

In this election, the Republican Party has gained majority support in both the House and Senate, as well as the Supreme Court. In American history, only two presidents have received such treatment—Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt; now the third is Trump. Moreover, many people around Trump hold a large amount of Bitcoin, including Vice President JD Vance and Musk, as well as Peter Thiel behind Vance.

If the U.S. Congress begins discussing using the Federal Reserve budget to purchase Bitcoin, even if it is just a discussion, the price of Bitcoin could rise significantly, and it is possible that the price of one Bitcoin could reach $200,000 to $300,000, though it is uncertain whether this will be a priority for the Trump administration.

Foresight News: Currently, Bitcoin shows a trend of evolving from digital gold to a national strategic reserve asset. How do you see this?

Jason: I can't talk specifically about certain institutions, but there are indeed some sovereign funds in discussion. After talking with some medium-sized sovereign funds, they are not yet at the level of considering Bitcoin as a strategic reserve; I even feel that the United States may act faster. Some sovereign funds are being cautious due to previous investment failures in exchanges or related companies, and they are currently watching how the U.S. proceeds.

However, once the market changes, this trend may happen faster than we think. I originally thought this might be a six-year story, but it might be completed in two years.

Foresight News: Will these funds from traditional fields directly invest in Bitcoin itself?

Jason: I rarely invest directly in Bitcoin itself. Many of the members of the investment committees of the university funds and pension funds I interact with are mostly in their 60s to 70s. For them, Bitcoin is a very difficult concept to understand, but if you lobby it as a new technological field, the acceptance will be much better. At that time, they may be willing to invest in related companies rather than Bitcoin itself. However, the approval of ETFs will allow institutional investors to more compliantly allocate to BTC, which is why this round of the bull market is a 'Bitcoin bull.'

Is Ethereum Alibaba and Solana Pinduoduo?

Foresight News: It seems that your strategy does not involve much in Ethereum ETFs. In the last cycle, Ethereum's increase far exceeded that of Bitcoin, but now there is much dissatisfaction with Ethereum. What considerations do you have for not touching Ethereum?

Jason: When introducing the world of cryptocurrencies to traditional funds, I found that they struggle to understand Bitcoin, and it’s even harder for them to understand Ethereum. Moreover, my investment logic tends to favor investing in things that change, such as an X factor that can change the market ranking order. For example, Pinduoduo, which later emerged and disrupted the e-commerce landscape. I think Ethereum currently lacks substantial innovation or large-scale applications. This can be felt from market enthusiasm and capital flow. On the contrary, Solana has a bit of a Pinduoduo flavor, although I do not hold Solana, but I like such changing stories.

Foresight News: What is your current personal asset allocation structure?

Jason: When I founded NDV, I almost invested all my liquid assets into cryptocurrencies, except for my house or assets in the primary market. I put most of my personal liquid funds into my own fund, which I think is the best explanation to the LPs. Currently, the ratio of Bitcoin to other cryptocurrencies in the assets is about 5:1 to 4:1.

Non-Bitcoin investments are projects done by founders I know well and are very capable, or recommended by friends. For example, I wrote on X at the beginning of October that I bought a meme recommended by my partner Christian, which has increased about 20 times from the bottom to now. The core here is the transfer of trust; I believe in what reliable people are doing, or endorsements from people I trust very much. But I treat these purchases as venture capital, positions I am willing to take losses on.

Foresight News: What are your plans for the next year?

Jason: I promised the investors of the first fund that I would liquidate the fund at the peak of the 4-year cycle of cryptocurrencies. I personally judge that the peak should appear within the next 12 months, but it depends on the larger macro environment and policy changes. After that, I will seriously explore the previously mentioned matter of bringing Web2 to Web3.