When investing in Circle, USDC had not yet been launched.

Written by: Asher (@Asher_0210), Planet Daily

Yixin's ongoing redemption crisis has finally attracted police attention after several months.

Yesterday, Yixin issued an apology letter to clients of its fixed-income-like products, admitting that related products had substantially defaulted and stating that the group might be insolvent with a significant debt gap. Today, the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Public Security Bureau announced that it has filed a case for suspected illegal activities by related companies of Yixin; multiple criminal suspects, including actual controllers Tang (male, 53 years old) and Zhao (female, 51 years old), have been subjected to criminal coercive measures.

Yixin's founder, Tang Ning, was once a prominent figure in China's internet finance industry. What has Tang Ning and Yixin gone through from being an industry star to facing a redemption crisis?

From the "First P2P Stock" to police investigation, how did Yixin come to this?

Tang Ning and Yixin: From credit beginnings to global fintech positioning

Tang Ning studied mathematics at Peking University, and after studying economics in the United States, entered Wall Street's DLJ Investment Bank, engaging in corporate listings, bond issuance, and mergers and acquisitions. After returning to China in 2000, he served as the director of strategic investment and mergers and acquisitions at AsiaInfo Group, and founded Yixin in 2006, entering the personal and micro-enterprise credit market.

In less than ten years, Yixin's platform was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2012, the online P2P platform Yirendai officially launched; in December 2015, Yirendai was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first Chinese P2P online lending platform to go public in the U.S., earning the title of "China's P2P First Stock." At that time, the domestic internet finance sector was in an expansion phase, and Yirendai's early entry into the U.S. capital market made Tang Ning and Yixin one of the most prominent names in the industry.

Yixin's business subsequently expanded from personal and micro-enterprise lending to wealth management and equity investment, with its client base extending to high-net-worth individuals. In 2016, Yixin's New Financial Industry Investment Fund reached a scale of $1 billion, seeking fintech investment opportunities globally. Its disclosed portfolio includes companies such as card issuance infrastructure firm Marqeta, bond trading platform Trumid, and identification verification company Onfido, indicating that its business landscape had far exceeded the initial online lending matchmaking.

Suspending redemption for nearly five months, Yixin is under police investigation

In May this year, Yixin suddenly stopped redemption. On May 22, Yixin announced that its fixed-income-like products would start a "benign exit," completely suspending redemptions, and expected to announce an exit plan within 4 to 6 weeks. According to media reports, the funds involved are about 30 billion yuan; another former employee estimated that the scale of related products reached 40 to 50 billion yuan, affecting nearly 100,000 investors.

The underlying assets of these products mainly include consumer finance loans, vehicle mortgage loans, supply chain finance, leasing, and agricultural-related debts, with some products previously advertised with expected annualized returns of 4.6% to 10.5%. However, nearly five months have passed, and investors still have not received a clear redemption arrangement. As of October, Yixin has yet to announce the final repayment ratio and specific redemption time.

On October 11, Yixin pushed an apology letter to relevant clients through Ruicheng and Yirenyouxuan Apps. According to the group's explanation, the contraction of the inclusive finance and wealth management business scale, poor earnings, substantial losses in multiple businesses, coupled with low asset disposal prices and a lack of effective funding sources, ultimately led to a substantial default of the fixed-income-like products. Preliminary findings from third-party asset verification and financial due diligence suggest that the group may be insolvent with a considerable debt gap.

From "benign exit" to admitting substantial default (the following image compares Yixin's statements from May and October 11), and now the police announcing the filing of a case, Yixin's redemption crisis has persisted for nearly five months, with specific suspected crimes and complete case details yet to be disclosed.

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The redemption crisis of Yixin has also drawn attention to its past overseas investments, especially in Web3 projects. As early as 2016, Yixin participated in the investment of USDC issuer Circle, and subsequently invested in several blockchain financial companies. From payments to asset on-chain, Yixin's intersection with the crypto industry occurred earlier than many people imagine.

When investing in Circle, the stablecoin USDC had not been launched

Tracing back Yixin’s overseas investment records, its connection to the crypto industry can be traced back to 2016.

In June 2016, Circle announced the completion of a strategic financing of $60 million, with Yixin co-investing alongside IDG, Breyer Capital, Baidu, CICC ALPHA under CICC, Everbright, and Wanxiang. Circle's official announcement also included a statement from Tang Ning, emphasizing that Yixin's fintech industrial fund is optimistic about digital mobile payments and blockchain technology.

At that time, Circle was not the stablecoin issuer familiar to crypto users today. It focused on blockchain-supported social and cross-border payments, aiming to allow users from different countries to transfer funds like sending messages. It was not until September 2018 that Circle launched the stablecoin USDC. In other words, when Yixin invested in Circle, it bought into the growth expectations of a blockchain payment company, with the stablecoin business being a story that unfolded later.

However, as Circle completed multiple rounds of financing and ultimately went public, its equity structure underwent significant changes. According to the latest publicly disclosed data in 2026, Yixin and its affiliated entities do not appear on the current major shareholder list of Circle (CRCL), with current major shareholders including IDG-related funds, BlackRock, General Catalyst, Chuang Xi Capital, and CEO Jeremy Allaire. Therefore, although Yixin once invested in Circle, it is no longer a shareholder.

Besides Circle, what other crypto projects has Yixin invested in?

Yixin's subsequent investments have extended along the financial business to blockchain.

Figure: On-chain lending platform

In April 2019, Yixin's fintech industrial fund announced that it would include Figure as a portfolio company, highlighting its receipt of industry awards related to blockchain innovation. In 2020, Figure appeared again in the investment list published by the fund.

Figure began with housing equity loans and other businesses, combining loan activities with blockchain. Its official website states that Figure Connect supports complete loan transactions and securitization execution on-chain.

This route is quite close to Yixin's lending background: loans still correspond to real borrowers and assets, while blockchain enters asset circulation and capital market transaction stages. Traditional financial assets that are now often discussed in the context of RWA on-chain have long appeared in Yixin's investment portfolio.

Matrixport: Crypto financial services platform

In August 2021, Matrixport completed a $100 million Series C financing, with a valuation exceeding $1 billion. This round was co-led by partners of DST Global, C Capital, and K3 Ventures, with Yixin's fintech industrial fund co-investing alongside Qiming Venture Partners, Tiger Global, and Foresight Ventures. Only two years after its establishment, Matrixport entered the ranks of crypto unicorns.

Matrixport, headquartered in Singapore, provides trading, lending, structured products, asset management, and custody services to individual and institutional investors. According to its published data at that time, as of March 2021, the client assets managed and custodized exceeded $10 billion, with monthly trading volumes of approximately $5 billion across product lines.

Compared to Circle's payment business and Figure's asset on-chain lending, Matrixport directly participates in crypto asset investment and management, also connecting more with Yixin's existing wealth management business.

Since Matrixport is still a privately held company and not publicly listed, the complete equity structure is not publicly available. In theory, early investors may still hold some shares (or may have exited through subsequent rounds or the secondary market). However, up to now, there is no evidence to show that Yixin and Matrixport currently have active equity or business connections.

Cashmere Wallet: Solana enterprise multi-signature wallet

In August 2022, Solana enterprise wallet Cashmere completed a $3 million seed round financing, valuing it at $30 million, with Yixin co-investing alongside Coinbase Ventures, FBG Capital, and Y Combinator.

Cashmere Wallet provides multi-signature wallets for enterprises and projects on Solana, requiring multiple authorized wallets to jointly approve fund transfers. Teams can use this to distribute fund management and payment permissions, reducing the risk of asset control by a single person or a single wallet.

This investment extended Yixin's layout into crypto asset custody and enterprise fund management.

Poko: Web3 payment service provider

In June 2023, Poko announced the completion of a $4.5 million seed round financing, with investors including Y Combinator, NAZCA, Global Founders Capital, and Yixin.

Poko provides payment access tools for wallets, trading markets, games, and other Web3 applications, allowing users to convert on-chain assets through credit cards and local payment channels. Developers can embed these functions into applications, reducing user operations when buying coins, transferring, and other actions.

From Circle to Poko, Yixin's crypto investments cover payment, lending, and wallet tools, as well as platforms that directly provide trading and asset management services.

Will Yixin's troubles affect the crypto industry?

As of now, based on accessible police reports, Yixin’s apology letters, and related public reports, there is no evidence indicating that the current redemption shortfall is caused by crypto investments, nor is there evidence showing that investor funds have been used to purchase crypto assets or transferred on-chain.

For companies like Circle that received investments, Yixin's past investment does not imply that there are binding financial or operational ties between the two parties; the impact depends on Yixin's current shareholding situation and whether there will be subsequent equity disposals.

For investors awaiting redemption, Yixin's investments in well-known projects are not the focus; what matters is how much redeemable assets can ultimately remain for repayment.