Former Hack VC partner Hsin-Ju was found dead in a California desert after refusing to settle.

Written by: Nicky, Foresight News

On September 23, according to hoodline and local police reports, former Hack VC partner and 37-year-old North Las Vegas resident Hsin-Ju Chuang was found dead on the evening of August 24 near the Fields Road exit of the I-15 freeway in the California Mojave Desert. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to the scene at 9:48 PM that night, and the case is still under investigation by the Barstow office. The exact cause of death has not yet been released, and the autopsy and toxicology reports from the San Bernardino County coroner's office are still in progress.

On the day of the incident, local temperatures reached extreme highs, with daytime highs around 108 degrees Fahrenheit (about 42 degrees Celsius) and nighttime temperatures remaining above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It is still undetermined whether the high temperature environment is related to this incident.

It is noteworthy that Hsin-Ju was the central figure in the workplace controversy involving Hack VC that had garnered much attention in the cryptocurrency industry. On the early morning of August 24, she publicly stated on the X platform that she refused the company's settlement proposal and planned to disclose relevant evidence she collected during her employment, accusing the company of high-intensity work arrangements, neglect of employee health rights, and mishandling of insurance after resignation. The timing of her public statement regarding the workplace dispute corresponds closely with the time of her death, further sparking widespread attention from the industry and public opinion.

Foresight News previously reported on August 24: "Hack VC embroiled in employee exploitation controversy, has the '996 culture' spread to the crypto space?", the original content is as follows:

On the early morning of August 24, former Hack VC partner and platform head Hsin-Ju Chuang posted on the X platform, announcing her refusal to accept the company's settlement proposal and deciding to publicly disclose all evidence she had collected during her tenure at Hack VC on August 26.

Hack VC subsequently provided a brief response, stating they were aware of the relevant posts and expressed deep concern for Hsin-Ju's health, but noted that there were significant differences in the parties' understanding of the incident and that details would not be publicly discussed for privacy reasons.

Hsin-Ju's public accusations concentrated on her working conditions during her employment and the handling of her insurance after leaving. According to her account, last year she was required to continue working intensively, even as she faced medical emergencies including a diagnosed case of Graves' disease, hyperthyroidism, and severe insomnia, working 13 to 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, with often less than 4 hours of sleep.

For the reasons above, Hsin-Ju claimed she repeatedly offered to resign but was denied and threatened that if she left before the events during Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) were completed, she would be blacklisted in the industry. According to her tweets, she indicated that after nearly a month of this state, she attempted suicide. Following the attempt, she had expressed in writing to Hack VC her lack of intention to sue but requested not to be retaliated against or defamed. However, she stated that just one month after her suicide attempt, the company delayed the processing of her COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) health insurance for nearly four months until she hired a lawyer to intervene.

It was during this legal negotiation process that a settlement proposal was made, but she ultimately chose to forgo it. Hsin-Ju stated that she was unwilling to exchange a signed confidentiality agreement for settlement money, as that would mean trading silence for money. She revealed that she had fired her attorney the day before, deciding that she would choose to speak out even without financial compensation. This choice is not typical, as most parties in disputes tend to seek maximum benefit with legal assistance rather than voluntarily relinquishing it, but her explanation was that after nearly a year of negotiations, she realized she could not accept the outcome of "taking money for silence."

In response to Hack VC's justification for not discussing details publicly due to privacy, Hsin-Ju further stated that she believed the true reason was that Hack VC did not want to commit to a fixed statement about the incident early on to avoid contradictions with the written evidence she would later disclose.

Public records show that Hsin-Ju entered the crypto field in 2017, serving as the head of growth in the early teams of Stellar and Solana, then founded Dystopia Labs, focusing on developer ecosystem building and Web3 event organization. In 2024, she joined Fhenix as the head of growth and officially became a partner and platform head at Hack VC in March 2025. She emphasized that during her time at Hack VC, she received a salary increase to $300,000, bonuses, and equity promises, and did not initiate the lawsuit for economic motivations, but rather chose to speak out due to substantial harm she suffered.

Hack VC holds a certain position in the field of crypto venture capital. The firm is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and regulatory filings show its assets under management to be around $823 million. Its investment portfolio includes well-known Web3 projects such as Sui, EigenLayer, Berachain, Morpho, and Stable, and it has achieved exits in acquisitions such as Rail and Vertex. According to the Preqin database and LinkedIn official page data, its core staff and investment team number around 15 people, with a total registered/associated employee range of 11-50 people.

The other key figures in the incident are Hack VC co-founder and managing partner Alexander Pack and partner, general counsel, and chief operating officer Daniel Bulaevsky. Alexander Pack previously co-founded Dragonfly Capital and served as its first managing partner, and has also been responsible for Web3 investments at Bain Capital Ventures, accumulating deep connections and influence in the industry.

Daniel Bulaevsky's professional background is also substantial, having worked as a lawyer at the top New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, participating in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and securities law matters, then working in leveraged finance at JPMorgan, and after joining Hack VC, responsible for legal, financial, and overall operations. Their core positions in the firm make Hsin-Ju's accusations directly point to the governance responsibilities of Hack VC's decision-making body.

Hsin-Ju explicitly mentioned both individuals in her post, stating she was told that Alexander Pack had known most managing partners of VC firms for nearly a decade and had the ability to impose an industry blacklist on her. For someone who has worked in the crypto field for nine years, who has long relied on networks and reputation for opportunities, the potential pressure from these two industry veterans undoubtedly heightens her uncertainty. Daniel Bulaevsky, as general counsel, was also included in Hsin-Ju's accusations regarding the handling of labor disputes and insurance issues.

If the evidence Hsin-Ju exposes can support her accusations, Hack VC may face multi-faceted legal risks.

Under California law, employers have a strict obligation to provide reasonable accommodations to employees, and refusing to adjust work intensity after being informed, preventing employees from leaving for medical reasons, or retaliating against them may constitute discrimination, failure to fulfill interactive procedures, or retaliatory behavior. The nearly four-month delay in handling COBRA insurance may also violate federal notification and management obligations. Additionally, if the threats lead to severe mental harm, there may be tort liability for intentional emotional distress. However, the final determination of these risks depends on the strength of the evidence, her legal employment status, and specific communication records, as both parties have significant disagreements about the facts.

At the community level, some industry practitioners have publicly expressed support for Hsin-Ju. Hummingbot co-founder Michael Feng stated that he had worked with Hsin-Ju multiple times to organize meetings and found her to be diligent, ethical, and responsible, asserting that if evidence shows leadership has not prioritized employee health over business, all LPs should redeem. Voices from the Chinese-speaking community also suggest that despite the extreme workload and health damage, the salary of around $300,000 plus bonuses may still attract individuals to accept similar conditions. This viewpoint reflects the prevalent "high pay for high pressure" culture in the crypto industry from another perspective.

Hsin-Ju's choice to publicly disclose evidence on August 26 indicates that the incident will transition from personal narrative to a phase that can be externally verified. She acknowledged that facing an institution managing hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, the outcome might be very unfavorable for her personally, yet she was still unwilling to trade silence for settlement money.

For Hack VC, regardless of the legal outcome, this public dispute has already begun to affect its reputation within the industry. For a broader audience of crypto practitioners, this incident provides an opportunity to re-examine workplace governance, power boundaries, and individual protections.