The interest of the business world in crypto assets is spreading from North America to Asia, and this time, a name closely related to Alibaba founder Jack Ma has emerged at the center of the wave. On September 2, 2025, the financial services company Yunfeng Financial Group Limited (stock code: 376.HK), listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, announced that it has officially utilized its internal cash reserves to purchase 10,000 Ether (ETH) in the open market, with a total investment cost (including fees) reaching 44 million USD.
This move not only marks the formal entry of a deeply-rooted Asian financial institution into the ranks of global corporate crypto asset reserves, but also has sparked widespread market attention due to its future plans revealed in the announcement—to continue exploring the purchase of mainstream digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL). This action is widely interpreted as the capital power co-founded by Jack Ma embracing the Web3 transformation in an unprecedented manner.
Jack Ma's concept stock
According to Yunfeng Financial's voluntary announcement submitted to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the decision to purchase 10,000 Ether has been approved by the board, with funds entirely sourced from the group's internal cash reserves and no external financing involved. The announcement clearly states that the purchased Ether will be listed as 'investment assets' in the group's financial statements.
However, this $44 million investment is just the beginning. Yunfeng Financial clearly outlined its more grand digital asset strategy in its announcement. The board stated that in addition to Ether, the company plans to further explore incorporating a diversified array of mainstream digital assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL), into its strategic reserve assets.
This series of plans indicates that Yunfeng Financial's vision is not limited to a single cryptocurrency but aims to build a diversified digital asset investment portfolio as part of its long-term strategy. The company emphasizes that it will closely monitor market developments, regulatory environments, and its own financial situation to adjust the scale of its reserve assets in a timely manner.
Yunfeng Financial has attracted significant attention largely due to its deep ties with Jack Ma. The company is a listed financial platform under the well-known private equity firm Yunfeng Capital, which was co-founded by Jack Ma and Yu Feng in 2010. Public information shows that Jack Ma indirectly holds a considerable portion of Yunfeng Financial's equity through his holding entities, which has led to this purchase being vividly described in the market as 'Jack Ma indirectly holding ETH.'
Interestingly, a heavyweight figure from the cryptocurrency industry, Xiao Feng, has joined Yunfeng Financial's board. Xiao Feng is not only the chairman of Wanxiang Group and the Hong Kong compliant virtual asset exchange HashKey Group but also an independent non-executive director of Yunfeng Financial. He is also an early investor in Ethereum and a founding partner of Distributed Global. This connection undoubtedly adds a profound industry background and professional perspective to Yunfeng Financial's cryptocurrency strategy. Market news even suggests that the transaction for Yunfeng Financial's purchase of Ether was completed through the HashKey platform.
Strategic transformation of Web3 and RWA
Yunfeng Financial repeatedly emphasized in its announcement that this purchase of Ether is not merely a financial investment or market speculation but serves a deeper strategic transformation of the company. The core of this transformation is a comprehensive embrace of Web3, tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), digital currencies, and cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence.
The board believes that incorporating digital assets like Ether into strategic reserves can bring at least three core values:
Infrastructure support: Holding Ether can provide critical infrastructure support for the group's future tokenization activities of real-world assets (RWA).
Optimizing asset structure: Using digital assets as reserves can optimize the company's existing asset structure and help 'reduce reliance on traditional currencies.'
Driving business innovation: The company will actively explore potential application models of Ether in its core insurance business and develop innovative business scenarios compatible with Web3 technology, with the ultimate goal of achieving a comprehensive organic integration of finance and technology, enhancing customer service experience and financial autonomy.
From these statements, it can be seen that Yunfeng Financial views Ether as a cornerstone for building the next generation of financial services, rather than merely a value storage tool. The market reacted positively to this, with Yunfeng Financial (0376.HK) experiencing a significant share price increase of 9.55% on the day of the announcement, indicating a high level of recognition from the capital market for this strategy.
New trends among Asian financial giants
Yunfeng Financial's move has made it the latest heavyweight enterprise to adopt a cryptocurrency reserve strategy after several listed companies in North America, marking the strong wave of this trend moving toward Asia. Previously, Micro Strategy, led by Michael Saylor, pioneered the corporate practice of 'hoarding coins' by purchasing large amounts of Bitcoin.
In recent months, this trend has begun to shift toward Ethereum. Several listed companies, including sports betting company SharpLink Gaming, data center operator Bitmine Immersion Technologies, and The Ether Machine, have started to buy and hold Ether on a large scale as part of their corporate reserves.
However, Yunfeng Financial's entry is of special significance. As a comprehensive financial services company headquartered in Hong Kong with operations across Asia, its actions are seen as an important signal of traditional Asian financial institutions deepening their acceptance of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. This move may not only create a demonstration effect in the Asian region but also adds strong support for Hong Kong's status as an international virtual asset center.
In summary, Yunfeng Financial's investment of $44 million to purchase 10,000 Ether and plans to continue increasing its holdings in Bitcoin and Solana is undoubtedly one of the most influential events in the cryptocurrency sector in 2025. This is not only due to the aura of 'Jack Ma's concept stock' but also because it clearly indicates that a mainstream Asian financial institution is elevating digital assets from a marginal alternative investment to a core strategic aspect concerning future development.
This purchase behavior goes beyond simple asset allocation; it is a strategic declaration and infrastructure layout aimed at the Web3 era. With regulatory frameworks in places like Hong Kong becoming increasingly clear, we have reason to believe that in the future, more traditional industry giants like Yunfeng Financial will bridge the gap between traditional finance and the digital world, becoming a key force driving the next wave of financial innovation.