Su Zhu, co-founder of failed cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, remains behind bars after being released last month as the disgraced entrepreneur seeks to foster new contacts through his Hong Kong connections. He said that living there was “enjoyable.”
Mr. Zhu, who was arrested in Singapore last September for failing to cooperate with an investigation into the collapse of his cryptocurrency hedge fund, praised his prison experience in a video clip he shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.
“Obviously no one wants to go to jail,” Zhu said in the video, which he said would be part of an upcoming podcast. “But overall I think it’s a really enjoyable experience.”
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“I wouldn’t strongly recommend it per se, but I think it’s definitely a good thing for everyone to experience at least once,” Zhu said.
Su Zhu (top right), co-founder of failed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, says in a January 2024 podcast recording that he was having “fun” in a Singapore prison after his arrest in September 2023. He talked about his experience. Photo: X / SCHIZO_FREQ alt=Su Mr. Zhu (top right), co-founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, speaks in a podcast recording in January 2024, after his arrest in September 2023. described his “enjoyable” experience in a Singapore prison. Photo: X/SCHIZO_FREQ>
Among the benefits in prison were improved sleep due to mandatory lights-out hours of 9:30pm to 5:30am and access to the internet, alcohol and caffeine banned. added.
“I had the best sleep of my life in prison,” he said.
Sleeping on a mat on the floor took some getting used to, but he said it felt “magical.”
“I feel a closeness to my ancestors,” says Zhu. “Because this is what I was supposed to live like.”
While some X commenters praised Zhu’s comments as inspirational, others mocked the founder, with one user calling it “the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” “It’s the craziest level of coping.”
Three Arrows Capital, once one of the world’s largest crypto hedge funds, collapsed in June 2022 after a series of leveraged investments exploded, causing the bankruptcies of many other crypto companies and It caused a trillion US dollar cryptocurrency market crash.
Mr. Zhu was arrested at Changi Airport in September last year when he tried to leave Singapore after failing to cooperate with the liquidation investigation.
The founder was switched from prison to home detention at the end of November, and his sentence ended on December 20, Zhu said in an interview with X Spaces. In the interview, he said he is turning the page on Three Arrows and focusing on a new project: a cryptocurrency exchange called OPNX.
Zhu co-founded OPNX in April last year with Kyle Davis, another co-founder of Three Arrows, and others. The founding team also includes Mark Lam, former CEO of failed cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Coinflex.
As is common in the industry, OPNX does not disclose the location of its headquarters. However, government records show that the company registered an office in Hong Kong’s central business district in May last year, with Lam listed as a director. This was just before the city’s new crypto asset regulations went into effect in June, giving existing exchanges a one-year grace period to obtain a license.
Last April, the company told cryptocurrency news outlet The Block that it had moved to Hong Kong with the support of OPNX investors.
OPNX did not immediately respond to a request for comment about its presence in Hong Kong or its plans to comply with the city’s new cryptocurrency regulations.
Hong Kong introduced the regulation last year to provide regulatory clarity to the crypto industry as it aims to become a global crypto asset hub. The new regime will require all centralized crypto trading platforms operating in Hong Kong or actively marketing to Hong Kong investors to be licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative news organization on China and Asia for more than a century. For more stories from SCMP, explore the SCMP app or visit SCMP on Facebook. twitter page. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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