A major workplace dispute has erupted in the cryptocurrency venture capital circle.
Former Hack VC partner and managing director Hsin-Ju published a lengthy public article on August 23, detailing the high-intensity work, health crises, pressure to resign, and subsequent legal disputes she faced during her tenure, accusing the management of the organization of threatening her with "industry blacklisting." She revealed that the ongoing pressure ultimately led to her attempted suicide, and she rejected a settlement proposal that included a "non-disclosure" clause, opting to give up compensation rather than accept a gag order.
Hsin-Ju is a veteran in the cryptocurrency industry, with approximately 9 years of experience. Her public resume shows that she served as the Head of Growth for Stellar in 2017, working alongside Mt. Gox founder Jed McCaleb; she joined the early Solana team in 2018 as Head of Growth, later founded Dystopia Labs, organized over 17 Ethereum developer conferences, and was responsible for Fhenix's growth business. She began participating in Hack VC part-time in 2021 and officially joined full-time as a partner and managing director in March 2025, resigning in September of the same year.
High-Intensity Work and "Industry Blacklisting" Allegations
According to Hsin-Ju, during her tenure in 2025, she was diagnosed with Graves' disease and hyperthyroidism, accompanied by severe insomnia, but was still required to maintain an extremely high workload, working 13 to 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, with daily sleep sometimes as little as 0 to 4 hours. At that time, it coincided with the Korean Blockchain Week, and she was responsible for Hack Summit and related activities.
She claims to have resigned multiple times but was not approved. Hsin-Ju accuses Hack VC co-founder and managing partner Alex Pack, as well as partner Daniel Bulaevsky, of stating that if she resigned before the summit and related events ended, they would use industry contacts to impact her future career development.
According to her description, Alex Pack emphasized that he had long-standing personal relationships with many managing partners of venture firms, thus possessing the ability to "blacklist" her from the industry.
Hsin-Ju stated that nearly a month of continuous high pressure ultimately led to her attempted suicide. She indicated that at the time, she merely hoped to leave normally and had no plans to sue the company, provided the company did not retaliate or publicly defame her.
She revealed that her salary at the time of her departure reached $300,000.
Healthcare Disputes Escalate After Resignation
However, the conflict did not end after her resignation.
Hsin-Ju stated that her COBRA extended healthcare subsequently encountered issues, with related disputes lasting nearly 4 months, and repeated communications remained unresolved until she hired the law firm Sanford Heisler to intervene and resolve the matter.
She believes that the company failed to properly handle healthcare issues in light of the severe health crises she had already experienced, further exacerbating the conflict between both parties.
In nearly a year of ongoing legal negotiations, Hsin-Ju accused the company's lawyers and some partners of making false statements about the employees, naming @0xRodney, @IsTheBaron, @roshunpatel, @Alex__Botte, among others. She also mentioned that common interest arrangements in the VC industry, such as carry and clawback, could lead some individuals to choose to evade the facts.
Refusal to Gag and Settlement, Preview of Evidence to be Released on August 26
Both parties had previously entered private mediation and were close to reaching a settlement, but Hsin-Ju stated that the proposed plan included a "non-disclosure" condition. She ultimately rejected the settlement, fired her agents, and decided to make the entire incident public.
She stated that she was not seeking compensation but hoped to disclose the details of the incident, while also indicating that an individual opposing a VC firm managing assets of about $600 million to $700 million could face significant legal and professional risks.
Hack VC subsequently responded that they had taken note of the related content and expressed concern for Hsin-Ju's health, but emphasized that there were "significant differences" between both parties regarding the incident, refusing to disclose further details under the pretext of respecting privacy, and did not respond directly to allegations of workplace pressure, healthcare disputes, and industry threats.
Furthermore, according to RootData, in the past year, besides Hsin-Ju, at least three other senior partners have left Hack VC, including Alex Botte, Roshun Patel, and Sean Brown. In terms of investments, Hack VC's investment batches have also dropped to their lowest point since its establishment, with only four projects publicly invested in this year.
Currently, the matter remains at a stage where both sides are sticking to their own narratives, with Hsin-Ju's statements lacking any strong evidence or public support from other well-known industry figures. Hsin-Ju has previewed that she will release relevant evidence on August 26 or earlier, which will be a key point in assessing whether her core accusations can be validated.
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