Yiren Digital was investigated, which crypto giants did "P2P" godfather Tang Ning once bet on?

Original | Odaily (@OdailyChina)

Author | Asher (@Asher_ 0210)

After months of redemption crisis, CreditEase finally received a police notice.

Yesterday, CreditEase had just sent an apology letter to clients of its fixed-income-like products, admitting that the relevant products had effectively defaulted and stating that the group may be insolvent with a significant repayment shortfall. Today, the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau announced that it has filed a case and launched an investigation into CreditEase's related companies on suspicion of illegal and criminal activities; the actual controller Tang (male, 53 years old), Zhao (female, 51 years old), and multiple other criminal suspects have been subjected to criminal coercive measures.

CreditEase founder Tang Ning was once a representative figure in China's internet finance industry. From industry star to redemption crisis, what has Tang Ning and CreditEase been through?

From "China's First P2P Stock" to Police Investigation, How Did CreditEase Come to This?

Tang Ning and CreditEase: From Credit Lending Origins to Global Fintech Expansion

Tang Ning studied in the Department of Mathematics at Peking University in his early years, then went to the United States to study economics before joining Wall Street investment bank DLJ, where he worked on corporate IPOs, bond issuance, and M&A. After returning to China in 2000, he served as Director of Strategic Investment and M&A at AsiaInfo Group, and founded CreditEase in 2006, entering the personal and small micro-enterprise credit market.

In less than a decade, CreditEase took its platform to the NYSE. In 2012, online P2P platform Yiren Digital officially launched; in December 2015, Yiren Digital listed on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first Chinese P2P lending platform to go public in the US, earning it the title of "China's First P2P Stock." At that time, China's internet finance sector was in an expansion phase, and Yiren Digital's early entry into US capital markets made Tang Ning and CreditEase one of the most closely watched names in the industry.

CreditEase's business subsequently expanded from personal and small micro-enterprise credit to wealth management and equity investment, with its client base extending to high-net-worth individuals. In 2016, CreditEase's New Finance Industry Investment Fund reached $1 billion in scale, seeking fintech investment opportunities globally. Its disclosed portfolio included card issuance infrastructure company Marqeta, bond trading platform Trumid, identity verification company Onfido, and other enterprises, with its business footprint far exceeding its original online lending matching services.

Redemptions Suspended for Nearly Five Months, CreditEase Under Police Investigation

In May of this year, CreditEase suddenly suspended redemptions. On May 22, CreditEase announced the launch of "orderly wind-down" for its fixed-income-like products, fully suspending redemptions and expecting to publish a wind-down plan within 4 to 6 weeks. According to media reports, the funds involved amounted to approximately 30 billion yuan; former employees estimated that the outstanding scale of relevant products reached 40 billion to 50 billion yuan, involving nearly 100,000 investors.

The underlying assets of these products mainly included consumer finance loans, vehicle mortgage loans, supply chain finance, financial leasing, and agriculture-related debts. Some products previously advertised expected annualized returns of 4.6% to 10.5%. However, nearly five months later, investors still have not received a clear redemption arrangement. As of October, CreditEase had not published a final repayment ratio or specific redemption timeline.

On October 11, CreditEase pushed apology letters to relevant clients through the Ruicheng and Yiren Youxuan apps. According to the group's explanation, the shrinking scale and poor returns of its inclusive finance and wealth management businesses, significant losses in multiple business lines, coupled with low asset disposal prices and lack of effective funding sources, ultimately caused the effective default of fixed-income-like products. Preliminary findings from third-party asset verification and financial due diligence indicated that the group may be insolvent with a significant repayment shortfall.

From "orderly wind-down" to admitting effective default (the image below compares CreditEase's public statements in May and October 11), to today's police announcement of case filing, CreditEase's redemption crisis has lasted nearly five months, with the specific suspected charges and complete case details still awaiting disclosure.

CreditEase's redemption crisis has also drawn attention to its past overseas investments, particularly Web3 projects. As early as 2016, CreditEase participated in the investment in USDC issuer Circle, and subsequently invested in multiple blockchain finance companies. From payments to asset tokenization, CreditEase's intersection with the crypto industry dates back earlier than many might imagine.

When It Invested in Circle, Stablecoin USDC Had Not Yet Been Created

Tracing CreditEase's overseas investment records, its connection to the crypto industry can be dated back to 2016.

In June 2016, Circle announced the completion of a $60 million strategic funding round, with CreditEase participating alongside IDG, Breyer Capital, Baidu, CICC ALPHA, Everbright, Wanxiang, and other institutions. Circle's official announcement also included a statement from Tang Ning, emphasizing that CreditEase's Fintech Industry Fund was bullish on digital mobile payments and blockchain technology.

At that time, Circle was not yet the stablecoin issuer familiar to today's crypto users. It focused on blockchain-supported social and cross-border payments, hoping to enable users in different countries to transfer funds as easily as sending a message. It was not until September 2018 that Circle launched the stablecoin USDC. In other words, when CreditEase invested in Circle, it was buying into the growth prospects of a blockchain payments company—the stablecoin business was a story that unfolded later.

However, as Circle completed multiple subsequent funding rounds and eventually went public, its equity structure has undergone significant changes. According to the latest public disclosure data in 2026, CreditEase and its affiliated entities do not appear in Circle's (CRCL) current list of major shareholders; current major holders include IDG-related funds, BlackRock, General Catalyst, Chuang Xi Capital, and CEO Jeremy Allaire, among others. Therefore, although CreditEase once invested in Circle, it is no longer a shareholder.

Beyond Circle, What Other Crypto Projects Has CreditEase Invested In?

CreditEase's subsequent investments extended along its financial business toward on-chain operations.

Figure: On-Chain Credit Platform

In April 2019, CreditEase's Fintech Industry Fund published an announcement listing Figure as a portfolio company and introducing its receipt of industry awards related to blockchain innovation. In 2020, Figure appeared again in the fund's published investment list.

Figure entered through businesses such as home equity lines of credit, combining lending operations with blockchain. According to its website, Figure Connect supports on-chain whole loan trading and securitization execution.

This approach is quite close to CreditEase's credit background: loans still correspond to real-world borrowers and assets, while blockchain enters the asset circulation and capital markets trading process. What is now often discussed under RWA—the tokenization of traditional financial assets—had already appeared in CreditEase's investment portfolio.

Matrixport: Crypto Financial Services Platform

In August 2021, Matrixport completed a $100 million Series C funding round at a valuation exceeding $1 billion. The round was co-led by DST Global partners, C Capital, and K3 Ventures, with CreditEase's Fintech Industry Fund participating alongside Qiming Venture Partners, Tiger Global, Foresight Ventures, and other institutions. Just two years after its founding, Matrixport joined the ranks of crypto unicorns.

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

Compared to Circle's payments business and Figure's credit asset tokenization, Matrixport participates more directly in crypto asset investment and management, and has more overlap with CreditEase's original wealth management business.

As Matrixport remains an unlisted private company, its complete equity structure is not public, and early investors may theoretically still hold some shares (or may have exited through subsequent rounds or secondary markets). However, as of now, there is no evidence indicating that CreditEase and Matrixport still have any active equity or business intersection.

Cashmere Wallet: Solana Enterprise Multi-Sig Wallet

In August 2022, Solana enterprise wallet Cashmere completed a $3 million seed funding round at a $30 million valuation, with CreditEase participating alongside Coinbase Ventures, FBG Capital, Y Combinator, and other institutions.

Cashmere Wallet provides multi-sig wallets for enterprises and project teams on Solana, where fund transfers require joint approval from multiple authorized wallets. Teams can use this to allocate fund management and payment permissions, reducing the risk of assets being controlled by a single person or single wallet.

This investment extended CreditEase's footprint into crypto asset custody and enterprise treasury management.

Poko: Web3 Payment Service Provider

In June 2023, Poko announced the completion of a $4.5 million seed funding round, with participants including Y Combinator, NAZCA, Global Founders Capital, and CreditEase, among other institutions.

Poko provides payment integration tools for wallets, marketplaces, games, and other Web3 applications, supporting users in transferring on-chain assets through bank cards and local payment channels. Developers can embed these features into applications, reducing user steps in buying coins, transferring funds, and other processes.

From Circle to Poko, CreditEase's crypto investments span payments, credit, and wallet tools, as well as platforms directly providing trading and asset management services.

Will CreditEase's Troubles Spill Over into the Crypto Industry?

As of now, based on retrievable police notices, CreditEase's apology letter, and related public reports, there is no evidence that the redemption shortfall was caused by crypto investments, nor is there evidence that investor funds were used to purchase crypto assets or transferred through on-chain channels.

For invested companies like Circle, CreditEase's past participation does not mean the two parties are bound in terms of capital and operations; whether they are affected depends on the current shareholding status of CreditEase-related entities and whether subsequent equity disposal is involved.

For investors awaiting redemption, which well-known projects CreditEase invested in is not the main point—how much recoverable assets these investments can ultimately leave is the key concern.