Billionaire Alan Howard’s crypto incubator WebN closes down
TL;DR
WebN Group, the crypto incubator backed by billionaire Alan Howard, is closing down after seeding several digital infrastructure startups. Despite the closure, Howard and his hedge fund Brevan Howard remain bullish on blockchain technology and digital assets.
Key Takeaways
- •WebN Group, Alan Howard's blockchain incubator, is shutting down after funding startups like Libre, Twinstake, TruFin, and Geometry.
- •The closure doesn't affect Howard's digital asset ambitions; he remains convinced blockchain will transform traditional markets.
- •Brevan Howard's digital asset fund lost nearly 30% last year, but the firm maintains a bullish long-term outlook on crypto.
- •Recent changes at Brevan Howard include the departure of BH Digital CEO Gautam Sharma and spinning out Nova hedge fund.
- •Tether is investing $200 million in Whop to expand stablecoin payments, highlighting continued institutional interest in crypto infrastructure.
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What to know:
- WebN received an investment from Japanese bank Nomura’s crypto partnership, Laser Digital, back in 2023.
- Hedge fund Brevan Howard remains bullish on crypto, according to a person close to the firm.
- WebN received an investment from Japanese bank Nomura’s crypto partnership, Laser Digital, back in 2023.
- Hedge fund Brevan Howard remains bullish on crypto, according to a person close to the firm.
WebN Group, the blockchain and Web3 incubator backed by billionaire Alan Howard, is closing its doors after seeding a clutch of digital infrastructure startups over the past several years, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Most recently, the venture studio backed tokenization specialist Libre (now called KAIO), crypto staking shop Twinstake, blockchain infrastructure firm TruFin and zero-knowledge proofs startup Geometry.
In addition to Howard, WebN also received an undisclosed investment from Japanese bank Nomura’s crypto partnership, Laser Digital, back in 2023.
The incubator was described as having "successfully completed its mission” the person said. Some of the staff who worked at WebN moved across to work at Brevan Howard, the hedge fund founded by Howard, they said.
The decision to close down the WebN incubator has no bearing on Howard's digital asset aspirations, said the person, who is close to the situation at WebN.
“Those who know Alan, know that he has long been convinced that blockchain technology would be used in traditional markets,” the person said.
The last 12 months have been a challenging time for crypto-exposed firms. Brevan Howard’s digital asset fund lost almost 30% last year, according to a report in the Financial Times. This follows gains of 52% in 2024 and 43% the year before.
Like many other hedge funds, Brevan Howard has trimmed its bitcoin BTC$68,617.09 ETF positions, cutting holdings of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust by some 85%, according to data from Bloomberg and CF Benchmarks.
2025 also saw the departure of BH Digital CEO Gautam Sharma, who had been overseeing crypto investing at the firm for a few years. Brevan Howard also decided to spin out Nova, a hedge fund run by former Dragonfly investor Kevin Hu, who joined the firm with his own money pool in 2023 as part of an acquisition.
“Brevan Howard isn’t scared off by temporary volatility, remains bullish on digital assets and has a huge VC business focused on the broad opportunity set,” said the source.
WebN Group did not respond to requests for comment. Brevan Howard declined to comment.
- Tether is investing $200 million in online marketplace Whop to expand stablecoin-based payments.
- Whop will integrate Tether’s crypto wallet tools so users and creators can hold, transact and settle in stablecoins like USDT without banks or card networks.
- The funding will support Whop’s global expansion across Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, further embedding Tether’s stablecoins in everyday online commerce.
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