Split Capital said that it is winding down its external asset-management business, with founder Zaheer Ebtikar moving into a strategy role at Plasma. The decision marks a deliberate shift away from running a crypto hedge fund and toward building stablecoin settlement infrastructure.
The timing is notable because the firm was not closing after a stretch of weak returns. Split Capital said it generated about 100% net returns in 2024 and roughly 20% in 2025, yet Ebtikar still chose to step away from the model. That contrast makes the move look less like a retreat and more like a judgment that the underlying structure of crypto fund trading has changed.
— Zaheer (@SplitCapital) April 7, 2026
A view that the old hedge-fund model no longer works
In explaining the transition, Ebtikar argued that the traditional crypto hedge-fund approach had become increasingly difficult to justify. He criticized short-duration, momentum-based trading and described it as “PvP button-clicking,” while saying the hedge-fund model was “broken” for crypto over the long term. His message was that even strong recent performance no longer outweighed the structural limits of a strategy built around short-term token alpha.
That argument reflects a broader market shift. As institutional products make crypto exposure easier to access, smaller funds have less room to claim a durable edge simply by holding or trading tokens. The rise of more standardized access points appears to be shrinking the advantage that once helped niche crypto funds stand out.
Plasma is where Ebtikar sees the next durable opportunity
Ebtikar will join Plasma as chief strategy officer, where he is expected to focus on market strategy, partnerships and go-to-market execution. Plasma has presented itself as an “operating system for stablecoins” and is building around the idea that settlement infrastructure, rather than speculative trading, will be one of the most valuable layers in crypto’s next phase. The move places Ebtikar on the utility side of the market rather than the trading side.
Plasma has also given itself the financial and strategic profile to attract that kind of transition. The company has cited more than $2.5 billion in stablecoin TVL at launch, along with a $500 million XPL token sale and earlier fundraising rounds of $24 million in Series A financing and $4 million in seed capital. Those figures help explain why stablecoin infrastructure is emerging as a stronger magnet for talent and capital than smaller active trading shops.
The broader implication is hard to miss. Split Capital’s wind-down suggests that some experienced operators now see more durable upside in payments, settlement and stablecoin rails than in trying to outperform through discretionary token trading. If that view spreads, the next wave of crypto talent may move less toward hedge funds and more toward infrastructure businesses built for scale.
