Is Jack Ma planning Web3? He holds 10,000 ETH as a strategic reserve.

Article Introduction

Yunfeng Financial spent US$44 million to purchase 10,000 ETH to increase its investment in Web3. Jack Ma indirectly participated in the strategic layout through Yunfeng Fund's 40% stake

On September 2, 2025, Yunfeng Financial Group (stock code: 376.HK), a financial institution listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, announced that it had purchased a total of 10,000 Ethereum (ETH) through the open market, with a total investment cost of US$44 million. Yunfeng Financial announced the purchase of Ether (ETH) as a strategic reserve asset. This move not only marks the substantial advancement of traditional financial institutions into the Web3 field, but also reflects the strategic synergy between Jack Ma and Yunfeng Capital.

The capital ties between Jack Ma and Yunfeng Fund

From the perspective of equity structure, the connection between Yunfeng Financial and Jack Ma can be traced back to its core shareholderJade Passion Ltd,which holds 47.25% of Yunfeng Financial's shares, and the actual controller of Jade Passion is Yunfeng Fund, which was co-founded by Jack Ma and Richard Yu. Although Jack Ma does not directly hold shares in Yunfeng Financial, he indirectly exerts influence through the executive entity of Yunfeng Fund's RMB Phase I Fund, Shanghai Yunfeng Investment Management Co., Ltd., in which Jack Ma holds a 40% stake.

Jack Ma holds a 40% stake in Shanghai Yunfeng Investment Management Co., Ltd. Furthermore, members of Yunfeng Fund's investment decision-making committee, such as Huang Xin and Haiou, all serve as executive directors or senior executives at Yunfeng Financial. This two-tiered "fund-listed company" structure naturally imprints Yunfeng Fund's strategic layout on Yunfeng Financial. Notably, Yunfeng Fund has been active in the blockchain sector in recent years. In August 2025, Yunfeng Fund and Yunfeng Financial jointly invested in the Macau International Carbon Emissions Exchange, launching the "Carbon Chain" initiative to bring carbon credit asset trading data to blockchain. Earlier, the company invested in the Pharos public blockchain, which focuses on developing RWA (real-world asset) tokenization technology. The establishment of this ETH reserve can be seen as an extension of Yunfeng Fund's "Blockchain + Finance" strategy at the listed company level. From the Ant Ecosystem to RWA, Yunfeng Fund's ETH layout resonates deeply with the industrial resources of Jack Ma and Yunfeng Fund. Yunfeng Financial's controlling stake in MassMutual Insurance Asia has historical ties with Ant Group. Ant Group once directly held a 5% stake in MassMutual Insurance, and Yunfeng Fund had early plans to integrate its insurance business into the Alipay ecosystem. On the other hand, Yunfeng Fund's long-term bet on the RWA sector forms a strategic partnership with Yunfeng Financial's ETH reserves. RWA tokenization relies on the ETH blockchain as a settlement layer, and Yunfeng Financial's purchase of 10,000 ETH provides the infrastructure support for its future digitization of assets such as real estate and artwork. This strategy aligns with Jack Ma's recent blockchain investments through Blue Pool Capital, jointly building a complete chain of "technology investment - asset blockchain - financial services." Strategic Inertia from Ant to Yunfeng Although Yunfeng Financial emphasizes that its ETH investment "strictly adheres to the Hong Kong regulatory framework," its connection to Jack Ma still raises market concerns about regulatory risks. Mainland China has explicitly banned financial institutions from engaging in cryptocurrency business since 2013. As a licensed institution, Yunfeng Financial's compliance relies on Hong Kong's open policy towards Web3. Interestingly, Yunfeng Fund's recent investment in the Australian Carbon Institute aligns perfectly with Hong Kong's "Green Finance + Blockchain" policy. This "compliance-hedging" strategy may provide implicit endorsement for Yunfeng Financial's ETH investment. Jack Ma's strategic planning in the fintech sector demonstrates remarkable consistency. When Ant Group was founded in 2013, its philosophy of "disintermediation" perfectly aligned with the spirit of blockchain. In 2015, Yunfeng Financial went public through a backdoor listing, aiming to become a "Chinese version of Charles Schwab" and integrating Alibaba's ecosystem resources. The establishment of this ETH reserve can be seen as an iteration of its earlier strategy in the Web3 era. By controlling financial infrastructure (such as ETH reserves), Yunfeng Financial is poised to gain a first-mover advantage in future areas such as digital asset custody and RWA trading platforms. Yunfeng Financial's ETH deployment is essentially a phased achievement in Jack Ma and Yunfeng Capital's strategy of "technology empowering finance." Through equity ties, resource synergy, and compliance-focused design, Yunfeng Capital has transformed its blockchain investments into strategic assets for the listed company. While Jack Ma wasn't directly involved in decision-making, the fund structure and industry ecosystem he established provided the underlying support for this expansion. This case study not only reveals a viable path for traditional financial institutions to transition to Web3, but also reflects the wisdom and limitations of Chinese private capital in exploring technological innovation within regulatory frameworks. As the tokenization of RWA accelerates, whether Yunfeng Financial's ETH reserves can truly be transformed into a competitive advantage will depend on the depth of its collaboration with the Yunfeng Capital ecosystem and the evolving direction of regulatory policies.