Author: Zhou, ChainCatcher

If there are still investors worth looking forward to in the current cryptocurrency industry, Cai Wensheng should be one of them.

Starting from the early domain business, to 58 City, Baofeng Video, and Meitu Xiuxiu successively emerging, and then advocating for Meitu to accumulate coins, incurring a floating loss of several hundred million yuan and being criticized for speculative trading, after stepping down as chairman, he liquidated his assets to buy buildings and bet on Hong Kong's Web3.

He is someone who has been repeatedly misunderstood by the times, yet also validated repeatedly by the times.

Only this time, he decided to "get his hands dirty."

Last time, he did not achieve good results

In 2021, Cai Wensheng advocated for Meitu to purchase Bitcoin and Ethereum, with a total investment of approximately $100 million.

At that time of purchase, Cai Wensheng once stated in a social media post: "Someone has to be the first to eat the crab. This should be considered the first Hong Kong listed company to purchase BTC cryptocurrency, and also the first listed company in the world to use ETH Ethereum as a currency value reserve."

However, as a Hong Kong listed company, any major asset allocation must go through the board of directors. At that time, although he held over 25% of the shares and could promote the purchase as chairman, he could not stop the sale.

In 2022, the cryptocurrency market plummeted, and Meitu had an apparent floating loss exceeding 280 million yuan, with the title of "speculative trading" being widespread. The stock price of Meitu in Hong Kong also hit a historic low.

Publicly traded companies sometimes exhibit less tolerance for floating losses than individual investors—a stock price pressure, shareholder doubts, and media attacks are external pressures that no one could withstand at that time.

In 2023, he stepped down from the chairmanship amidst the doubts, with Wu Xinhong returning to take the helm, and immediately began to "tear off the Cai Wensheng label", with the strategic focus completely shifting to AI.

The ending of the story is quite ironic. Meitu announced in early December 2024, by that date had sold all cryptocurrencies for a total cash consideration of approximately $180 million, with a profit of approximately 79.63 million dollars, equivalent to about 571 million yuan.

If they had held on back then, Meitu would have been one of the first DAT companies on the Hong Kong stock market.

The trend has been validated, but it no longer concerns him.

Diving in, getting hands dirty

From domain names, mobile internet, to Web3, there have always been people saying he is gambling.

He once stated in an interview that what Web3 entrepreneurs do is often misunderstood, especially by traditional investors.

At the same time, he expressed strong belief in the explosion of Web3, noting that it's just a matter of timing that is hard to predict, much like how AI experienced many years of dormancy before welcoming the explosion of ChatGPT.

According to RootData, Cai Wensheng's Longling Capital had early investments in the cryptocurrency exchange OKX (formerly OKCoin). In 2018, he disclosed that he had invested in over 10 blockchain projects, including Theta, Ontology, and Zipper.

This time, he simply increased his stakes.

After stepping down, Cai Wensheng chose to reduce his stake in Meitu, decreasing from a peak of approximately 25% to less than 10%.

650 million HKD was spent to purchase a 25-story office building in Hong Kong, renamed CAI Tower. He specifically clarified: "CAI is an abbreviation for Crypto and AI, not my surname."

It is reported that CAI Tower does not charge rent, only requiring priority investment rights for the first round of financing, without price discount or holding control. He publicly stated that the goal is to incubate 5 unicorns within three years.

Last November, Cai Wensheng stated at the Hong Kong Fintech Week that buying this building was to "set a precedent", and now the building is fully occupied by AI and Web3 companies.

Capital operations also unfolded subsequently. He successively acquired two Hong Kong listed companies—China New Economy Investment and China Financial Leasing, renamed them CAI Holdings and LONG Investment Group, creating a Web3+AI asset management platform.

At the beginning of 2026, CAI Holdings further acquired Forestheaven and EXIO equity of early projects through the issuance of new shares, with the seller being Longling Capital, which is wholly owned by Cai Wensheng.

Among them, EXIO is a licensed virtual asset trading platform in Hong Kong, holding Type 1 and Type 7 licenses from the Securities and Futures Commission. It is the first compliant exchange in Hong Kong with a brokerage background, and Longling Capital is one of its early investors.

Incorporating this piece into CAI Holdings means his ecological blueprint extends from incubation to circulation—projects are incubated in CAI Tower and can directly trade compliantly on licensed exchanges after maturation.

Crypto OGs need a decent victory

Among the crypto OGs we know, Cai Wensheng is not the one who benefited the most.

The early crypto OGs had different fates.

Some completely faded out after achieving financial freedom—Zhang Jia, the founder of Babitai, was once the most powerful advocate for long-termism in the cryptocurrency industry. Since 2023, he has turned to venture in AI.

Kyle Samani, co-founder of Multicoin Capital, gained fame due to early bets on Solana, and publicly stated upon leaving the space that "cryptocurrencies are not as interesting as many people imagine."

Some stayed in the circle, but their focus has shifted—Shen Yu was a representative figure in mining circles in the early years, and now half of the content on his social media accounts is about AI tools.

And like Cai Wensheng, there are others who chose to stay, such as Xiao Feng and Feng Bo.

Xiao Feng transitioned from traditional finance, leading HashKey down a regulated path of institutionalization, operating with licenses and connecting with traditional capital; Feng Bo strategically positioned himself as a professional crypto VC, closer to standard institutional investor strategies.

They also have faith in this industry, but their paths are radically different.

Cai Wensheng opted for a more "messy" route: avoiding institutionalized pathways, not engaging in purely financial bets, personally rooting in Hong Kong, and diving into the industry.

In 2023, Cai Wensheng stated: “From Web1 to work on Web3, it seems like a compliment, but actually indicates we have not succeeded from Web1 to Web3, we have always been on the way. But many have left from Web1 to Web3, yet we are still here, indicating we are veterans. Veterans don’t die, they just fade away slowly.”

At the beginning of 2026, he predicted that the price of Bitcoin would rise to $1.1 million, implying a total market value of approximately $21 trillion. Previously, he publicly stated he held approximately 10,000 Bitcoins, and there has been no news indicating he has exited.

Of course, the controversy behind this has not disappeared. Continuing to endorse during a bear market raises the question of whether it is persistence against the market trend or a story that had to be told after being trapped; outsiders still find it difficult to discern.

However, the liquidated ammunition, purchased buildings, and acquired companies are all actions involving real money.

This industry has experienced too many disgraceful endings. Project teams running away, huge whales dumping and fleeing, OGs quietly exiting, leaving in public view often only news about whale address movements.

This industry does not lack those calling shots; what it lacks are those who truly stay and get their hands dirty.

A bull market does not solve the root problems of the industry; ultimately, it will rely on projects that really come out, ecosystems that truly land, to earn a decent victory for crypto OGs.

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