Joe McCann, founder of Asymmetric Financial, has closed the Liquid Alpha Fund after it reportedly suffered a 78% loss in 2025, amid criticism and investor frustration. The fund, designed for high-volatility crypto markets, struggled as market conditions matured and volatility dropped, with the Crypto Volatility Index (CVI) falling nearly 30% over the past year.

McCann has shifted focus from liquid trading to long-term blockchain investments, offering investors the option to exit without lock-up restrictions or roll capital into a new illiquid strategy. Asymmetric’s venture arm will continue backing early-stage blockchain projects.

Simultaneously, McCann is spearheading Accelerate, a new Solana-focused treasury company, as its CEO. Accelerate aims to raise $1.51 billion through a SPAC merger with Gores X Holding, including $800 million via PIPE, $358.8 million from the SPAC, $250 million in convertible bonds, and $103.2 million from SPAC warrants. If successful, Accelerate plans to acquire approximately 7.32 million SOL tokens, positioning it as the largest Solana treasury holder, surpassing firms like Upexi.

This move reflects growing institutional interest in Solana’s high-performance blockchain but has sparked concerns about centralization and regulatory scrutiny. The fundraising timeline targets late 2025, though details remain speculative without official confirmation. The 78% loss in 2025 highlights the challenges of managing high-volatility crypto funds in a stabilizing market. This closure signals a shift from speculative, short-term trading to longer-term blockchain investments, reflecting a broader trend among crypto funds adapting to maturing markets.

Offering investors an exit or a roll-over into an illiquid strategy mitigates immediate backlash but risks alienating those preferring liquidity. The pivot to venture-style investments in blockchain projects suggests confidence in early-stage innovation but carries higher risk and longer horizons. McCann’s decision to shut down the fund after significant losses could damage his credibility, though his transparency in offering exits may soften the blow. Success in the new venture arm will be critical to restoring investor confidence.

If Accelerate raises $1.51 billion and acquires 7.32 million SOL tokens, it could significantly influence Solana’s ecosystem. Such a large holding could stabilize SOL’s price by reducing circulating supply but risks centralization, potentially undermining Solana’s decentralized ethos. The SPAC merger and high-profile fundraising signal growing institutional interest in Solana’s scalable blockchain, potentially attracting more developers and projects.

However, it also invites regulatory scrutiny, especially given the SEC’s focus on crypto securities. Surpassing firms like Upexi as the largest Solana treasury holder positions Accelerate as a dominant player, which could drive partnerships but also spark concerns about market manipulation or governance influence within Solana’s ecosystem.

The decline in crypto market volatility (CVI down ~30%) suggests a maturing industry, pushing funds like Asymmetric toward fundamental-driven investments rather than speculative trading. Large treasury accumulations by entities like Accelerate could create tension between institutional power and the decentralized principles of blockchain, potentially alienating retail investors or developers.

Retail investors may view Accelerate’s massive SOL acquisition as centralizing control, reducing their influence in Solana’s governance or price dynamics. This could fuel distrust in institutional-driven projects. Institutional players, like those backing the $800 million PIPE, see Solana as a scalable, enterprise-ready blockchain. This divide could lead to a two-tiered ecosystem where institutional agendas dominate over retail-driven decentralization.

The failure of Asymmetric’s Liquid Alpha Fund underscores the risks of volatility-driven trading in a stabilizing market. Meanwhile, McCann’s shift to venture investments and Accelerate’s treasury strategy reflect a belief in blockchain’s long-term potential, creating a divide between traders seeking quick gains and investors betting on infrastructure. Accelerate’s potential to hold 7.32 million SOL tokens raises concerns about centralization within Solana’s ecosystem.

Critics argue this could give McCann’s firm outsized influence over network decisions, clashing with the decentralized ethos valued by many in the crypto community. The SPAC structure and large-scale fundraising invite regulatory attention, particularly from the SEC, which has intensified scrutiny of crypto assets. This creates a divide between innovators pushing for adoption and regulators enforcing compliance, potentially slowing Solana’s institutional growth.

McCann’s closure of the Liquid Alpha Fund and pursuit of a $1.51 billion Solana treasury via Accelerate reflect a strategic pivot toward long-term blockchain investment amid a maturing crypto market. While this could bolster Solana’s institutional adoption and ecosystem growth, it risks deepening divides between retail and institutional players, speculative traders and long-term investors, and centralized control versus decentralized ideals.

Intel’s second-quarter results may have topped Wall Street’s expectations on revenue, but the once-dominant chipmaker remains far from the powerhouse it used to be. The earnings report, released Thursday, came with a sobering reminder of the company’s long road to recovery — and its ongoing financial and operational overhaul under new CEO Lip-Bu Tan.

For the quarter ended June, Intel posted $12.86 billion in revenue, ahead of analysts’ estimates of $11.92 billion, according to LSEG. The company, however, recorded a net loss of $2.9 billion, or 67 cents per share, nearly double the $1.61 billion loss from the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings showed a 10-cent loss per share, driven by an $800 million impairment charge related to idle tools, which alone knocked about 20 cents off the bottom line.

Still, the better-than-expected revenue and improved guidance for Q3 — $13.1 billion at the midpoint versus a $12.65 billion consensus — were enough to push Intel shares higher in extended trading. And for the market, it wasn’t just a matter of numbers beating expectations; it was the first concrete sign in months that Intel’s brutal slide may be slowing.

Intel’s current position marks a stunning decline for a company that once defined the semiconductor industry. Just a decade ago, Intel was unshakable — the undisputed leader in central processing units (CPUs) and one of the most valuable tech firms in the world. But years of strategic missteps, delays in manufacturing innovation, and a failure to pivot fast enough to the AI and smartphone chip boom allowed competitors — particularly TSMC, AMD, and Nvidia — to eclipse it.

By 2024, Intel had not only lost its technological edge but had also tumbled out of the top 10 semiconductor companies globally — a humiliating milestone confirmed by its own chief.

“We are not in the top 10 semiconductor companies anymore,” Lip-Bu Tan told staff in a brutal internal assessment earlier this month.

The admission was a stark departure from the optimism that once characterized Intel’s ambitious foundry plans and efforts to recapture leadership in chip manufacturing.

The damage wasn’t just reputational. Intel’s stock plunged 60% in 2024, marking its worst performance in company history. Over-investment in chip factories that never found sufficient demand, rising competition, and lagging innovation in both PC and data center chips all contributed to the rout.

Lip-Bu Tan’s Tough Medicine

Tan, the former Cadence Design Systems chairman and a respected voice in Silicon Valley, took over from Pat Gelsinger in March with a mandate to stop the bleeding and refocus Intel’s operations. His approach has been anything but cosmetic.

In a memo to employees Thursday, Tan revealed that Intel has now “completed the majority” of planned layoffs, trimming its workforce by 15% — or around 13,000 jobs — and will close the year with approximately 75,000 employees. The move is part of a broader plan to slash operating costs by $17 billion by the end of 2025.

More drastically, Tan canceled large-scale chip fabrication (fab) projects in Germany and Poland, slowed down the $20 billion “Silicon Heartland” plant in Ohio, and consolidated testing and assembly lines in Vietnam and Malaysia. These changes hit at the heart of Intel’s once-ambitious global expansion strategy under Gelsinger, who sought to challenge TSMC as a contract chipmaker.

“Over the past several years, the company invested too much, too soon – without adequate demand,” Tan wrote in his memo. “Our factory footprint became needlessly fragmented and underutilized.”

Intel’s foundry unit — the linchpin of its outsourcing pivot — posted a $3.17 billion operating loss on $4.4 billion in revenue. Without a big external customer to anchor the business, the unit has continued to drain resources.

Tan made it clear that going forward, all investments must be backed by firm demand. “There are no more blank checks. Every investment must make economic sense,” he wrote. He also said he would personally approve all chip designs before tape-out, reflecting tighter control and a renewed focus on engineering discipline.

Turning A Corner?

While the overall business remains under pressure, the latest report does offer signs of stabilization. Sales from the Client Computing Group — which includes chips for personal computers — declined 3% to $7.9 billion, while the Data Center and AI Group grew 4% to $3.9 billion. The latter unit, though still lagging behind AMD and Nvidia, shows Intel is not entirely losing the AI race.

The financial outlook is also improving. After last year’s catastrophic drop, Intel shares are up roughly 13% year-to-date, suggesting some investor confidence in Tan’s turnaround strategy. The company’s Q3 forecast also hints at momentum — albeit fragile — heading into the second half of the year.

Intel’s second-quarter performance won’t erase years of setbacks. But it is perhaps the clearest indication yet that the company is starting to steady its footing under Lip-Bu Tan. The revenue beat and improved forecast may look modest on paper, but in the context of Intel’s recent history — and Tan’s own admission that it no longer ranks among the top 10 global chipmakers — it represents more than just a quarterly win.

Analysts believe that the recovery will depend not just on cost cuts and restructuring, but on whether Intel can once again deliver on innovation — and win back the customers it lost.