Update (July 23 at 10:00 pm UTC): This article has been updated to remove inaccurate information previously attributed to Asymmetric CEO Joe McCann.
Crypto hedge fund Asymmetric Financial is pivoting away from liquid trading strategies following sharp underperformance and public backlash from investors.
In a post shared on X Wednesday, CEO Joe McCann acknowledged that the fund’s current approach “is no longer serving our LPs” and confirmed that Asymmetric will begin transitioning capital away from liquid trading into illiquid investments.
The update came amid criticism of the company’s Liquid Alpha Fund, which McCann admitted had failed to deliver this year.
“I’ve notified our LPs that we are shifting away from liquid trading strategies,” McCann wrote, adding that “while the Liquid Alpha Fund struggled this year, our other vehicles have performed.”
Tensions flared on X Tuesday after popular Solana (SOL) maximalist BigbrainSOL expressed his disappointment with Asymmetric’s fund performance, sharing a screenshot showing he is down $10 million in the first half of the year — a 78.37% portfolio drop, from $12.89 million to around $2.78 million.
Investors in Asymmetric’s funds will be allowed to exit, despite “any customary lock-up periods,” or choose to roll their capital into specific new opportunities, McCann said. “Assymetric isn’t “going anywhere.”
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Airdrops offer opportunity — and serious risk
In November 2024, Hyperliquid airdropped its native token (HYPE) to over 90,000 users. The drop accounted for 31% of the token supply and had an original estimated value of around $1.2 billion. Over the next 12 hours, the token’s value rose by 63%
The drop was one of the most generous community-focused airdrops, and fueled massive growth for the platform. However, not all airdrops are as successful as Hyperliquid’s and some are outright scams.
In 2024 and 2025, fake airdrops tied to projects like Hamster Kombat and Wall Street Pepe led to millions in user losses, contributing to over $9.9 billion in global crypto scam losses. These scams impersonate legitimate projects, tricking users into revealing private keys, signing malicious contracts or paying upfront fees.
Bots are also increasingly being used to farm airdrops. Since users are often rewarded with airdropped tokens based on the tasks they’ve performed, bot armies are frequently employed to perform those tasks and reap the rewards.
In response, some projects are shifting toward activity-based, AI-monitored airdrops that reward real engagement and help reduce exploitation.
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