Quit While You're Ahead: Split Capital Founder Bails on Hedge Funds With 100%+ Returns to Chase Stablecoin Dreams

Zaheer Ebtikar is closing Split Capital, his digital asset hedge fund, after delivering over 100% returns in both 2024 and 2025. The founder is joining Plasma, a Peter Thiel-backed stablecoin startup, as chief strategy officer. Because nothing says "I made it" quite like abandoning a printing press that's literally printing money to go build infrastructure for the boring-but-necessary world of stablecoins.

"We were a top performing fund by every mark," Ebtikar claimed in an X post. "The hedge fund model did not make sense for crypto, in perpetuity." That's founder speak for "we crushed it so hard it got boring" or possibly "I saw the bear market coming and decided to exit stage left before my LPs started asking uncomfortable questions."

Ebtikar described his early crypto trading days as "PvP button-clicking" — fast-moving markets driven by momentum and narratives. But after nearly a decade, he said those conditions have changed. Translation: what used to be a chaotic arena where degens fought to the death over leverage is now a place where you actually have to think about things like "utility" and "adoption." Wild, we know.

"The industry no longer rewards traders chasing momentum, it has matured into a space where the only real question is 'What does the future look like and where is the value?'" he said. Move over, chart wizards. The new meta is being a philosopher-king who contemplates the grand tapestry of financial infrastructure while occasionally checking if ETH broke $4K again.

Ebtikar acknowledged that many critics were right to question whether funds like Split Capital were sustainable. "As time went on, our conviction narrowed around a small number of founders and verticals I genuinely believed in." Basically admitting that throwing darts at a board works until it doesn't, then pivoting to actually believing in something. Growth.

His conviction in Plasma grew after working closely with its founding team throughout 2024 and 2025. Plasma focuses on stablecoin settlement infrastructure and global financial access. The platform raised $24 million in February 2024 from investors including Framework Ventures, Bitfinex, Peter Thiel, and Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino. That's a lot of big names who apparently think stablecoins are the future. And hey, they're probably right. Someone has to build the rails while everyone else YOLOs into memes.

At Plasma, Ebtikar will oversee partnerships, growth, go-to-market efforts, and engage with investors and policymakers ahead of Plasma One rollout and ecosystem expansion. He framed the move as part of a larger belief that crypto is entering a new phase defined by building global financial systems rather than speculation. In other words: time to stop gambling and start building the boring stuff that actually makes crypto useful. Someone's gotta do it.

"The last dance of crypto's old era and the hope and deep belief that our work at Plasma can get us to a new golden age for our space," Ebtikar said. Nostalgia for the wild west days combined with hopeful optimism for the boring-but-profitable future. Classic founder arc. Let's see if stablecoins can deliver on the promise, or if this is just another case of "the grass is always greener on the other side of the trade."