Yunfeng Financial Group (0376.HK), indirectly held by Jack Ma, announced on the 2nd that it has accumulated the purchase of 10,000 Ethereum (ETH), with a total investment cost of $44 million. This move not only triggered an intraday stock price increase of nearly 10%, but is also seen as Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s latest foray into the Web3 space. Unlike previous low-profile actions, Yunfeng Financial’s announcement directly pointed out the strategic significance of ETH as a reserve asset, aiming to optimize its asset structure and reduce reliance on traditional currencies. As a financial group indirectly held by Jack Ma, this move quickly sparked a chain reaction in the global crypto community and traditional finance circles, highlighting the accelerated embrace of digital assets by institutional investors.
The group clearly stated in the announcement that the funds for this purchase came from internal cash reserves, and the acquired ETH will be listed as investment assets. The company’s board believes that including ETH in its strategic reserves aligns with the group’s layout in cutting-edge fields such as Web3 and Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization. This is not an isolated event: since August, Yunfeng Financial has been active, including releasing interim results, obtaining Web3-related licenses, advancing carbon infrastructure and RWA projects, and forming strategic partnerships with public chains. Entering September, the pace of announcements accelerated further, culminating in this ETH purchase, demonstrating the group’s determination to transform towards crypto finance.
According to public data, Jack Ma indirectly holds about 11.15% of Yunfeng Financial through Yunfeng Fund. In Shanghai Yunfeng Xinchuang Equity Investment Center, Jack Ma holds 40% of the shares—although without voting rights, his influence is significant. Yunfeng Fund was founded by Jack Ma and David Yu in 2010, mainly focusing on technology, finance, and consumer sectors. Yunfeng Financial’s predecessor can be traced back to Man Sang International Securities, established in 1982. In 2015, Yunfeng Fund injected HK$3.9 billion to take control, transforming it into a fintech platform with multiple licenses in securities, insurance, and asset management. This ETH purchase is interpreted as Jack Ma’s extension from the Alipay era to the blockchain field. Earlier, at an entrepreneurs’ symposium in February 2025, Jack Ma proposed the concept of “technology encapsulation,” i.e., embedding algorithms into real-world scenarios, with Ethereum as the core of smart contracts serving as the financial infrastructure for this concept.
After the announcement, Yunfeng Financial’s stock price surged nearly 10% intraday. In the crypto community, this news was humorously dubbed “Jack Ma joins the ETH Guardians.” Yunfeng Financial’s announcement mentioned exploring the application of ETH in insurance business and innovative scenarios adapted to Web3. In addition to ETH, the company plans to include mainstream digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL). This echoes the global institutional entry trend: for example, BlackRock’s ETHA ETF attracted $1 billion in a single day, and Standard Chartered predicts ETH will reach $7,500 by year-end. The RWA track is seen as a trillion-dollar opportunity, and Yunfeng Financial emphasizes that ETH can provide infrastructure support for RWA tokenization. RWA refers to putting real-world assets such as real estate and bonds on-chain, achieving tokenized circulation to improve liquidity and efficiency. Jack Ma’s layout is seen as a forward-looking move to seize this track, especially as the upcoming ETH Pectra upgrade is expected to trigger an institutional staking boom.
Coincidentally, the Ethereum Foundation disclosed the day after the announcement that it would sell 10,000 ETH for research and donations. This transaction was completed in the early morning of September 3, valued at about $42.7 million, and the Foundation’s official Twitter immediately clarified the purpose. Currently, the Foundation still holds 231,600 ETH, ranking fourth among public entities. From a professional perspective, Yunfeng Financial’s move optimized its balance sheet. Traditional finance relies on fiat currencies such as the US dollar, which are vulnerable to inflation and geopolitical risks; ETH, as “digital oil,” offers a 3-5% staking yield, outperforming US Treasuries. The group holds MassMutual Insurance, and this move may explore ETH’s application in insurance, such as automated claims via smart contracts to improve efficiency. More broadly, this event marks the acceleration of the decentralized blockchain era. Yunfeng Financial firmly believes that the Web3 revolution will drive financial innovation and sustainable development.
