Billionaire Alan Howard’s Crypto Incubator WebN Shuts Down – What Now?

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Finance

What to know:

  • In 2023, WebN got a nod from Japan’s Nomura through its crypto sidekick, Laser Digital.
  • Brevan Howard, Alan Howard’s hedge fund, is apparently still smitten by crypto, sources say.

The saga of WebN Group, Alan Howard’s crypto playground, has come to an unexpected, anticlimactic halt. After years of sprinkling its magic over digital infrastructure startups, the incubator is folding up its tent, according to sources that know the story better than we do.

In the latest act, WebN offered its blessings to projects like the tokenization wizardry of Libre (now rebranded as KAIO), the staking operation Twinstake, the blockchain architects at TruFin, and the cryptic zero-knowledge proofs startup Geometry. Yet, the curtain falls.

And just to keep things interesting, we must note that WebN wasn’t flying solo – it had a substantial ally in the form of an undisclosed investment from Laser Digital, the crypto wing of Japan’s Nomura Bank, which made an entrance in 2023.

The company is reported to have “completed its mission,” which must mean that it did something spectacular at some point, we guess. It’s a mystery what exactly the mission was, but they say the job’s done. In a twist, some of WebN’s staff are now strutting over to Brevan Howard, Alan Howard’s hedge fund-because who doesn’t like a change of scenery?

As for Howard’s aspirations in digital assets? Fear not. The WebN shutdown is apparently just a chapter in his crypto journey. According to insiders, Alan has been rather adamant about blockchain’s future role in traditional markets. Who could’ve seen that coming?

The last year, however, hasn’t been particularly kind to crypto-linked ventures. Brevan Howard’s digital asset fund reportedly tanked almost 30%, following a couple of years of impressive gains. Well, at least they had their 2024 52% and 2023 43% returns to comfort them-silver linings, right?

And like any good hedge fund, Brevan Howard has taken some chips off the table, cutting its holdings in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust by a staggering 85%. You know, just a casual Sunday move.

On top of all that, BH Digital saw its CEO Gautam Sharma, the man who had been leading crypto investments for the fund, ride off into the sunset in 2025. If that wasn’t enough, they also decided to offload Nova, a hedge fund helmed by Kevin Hu, a former Dragonfly investor. Just the usual hedge fund drama.

But never fear: the folks at Brevan Howard assure us that they’re still “bullish on digital assets” and aren’t shaken by short-term volatility. Their VC business is still out there, casting its net far and wide-because, well, why not?

As for WebN, they refused to answer our burning questions, and Brevan Howard wasn’t exactly forthcoming either. It’s almost like they’ve got something to hide… or maybe they just forgot to reply.

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2026-02-25 19:48