Su Zhu: From luxury to fugitive, $3 billion to zero in 72 hours

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The meteoric rise of Su Zhu, 37, a US-educated mathematician was more than a crypto world success story — it was a spectacle.

And in a world obsessed with meteoric success, Zhu was the ultimate icon — a Singaporean wunderkind who built Three Arrows Capital (3AC) into a $3 billion crypto colossus.

But beneath the surface of rare NFTs and mansions lay a financial time bomb.

When it detonated, the blast left a trail of destruction, sparking bankruptcies, ruin, and Zhu’s own spectacular downfall.

Bank trader

In 2012, then aged 25, Zhu was just another trader at Deutsche Bank.

By 2021, at age 34, the Colombia University-educated Zhu commanded billions in crypto assets, earning 3AC a reputation

Together with his ex-high school classmate Kyle Davis, who started the Singapore-based hedge fund manager 3AC in 2012, became the world's biggest cryptocurrency holders.

Zhu and Davis then had a portfolio worth billions of dollars, with their firm owning a 5.6 per cent stake in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, a $22 billion fund investment solely in Bitcoin.

His strategy? Leverage on borrowed money.

From BlockFi to Voyager and Genesis, Zhu was taking massive loans, reinvesting them, and borrowing again — a precarious web of debt masked by sky-high confidence.

The "SuperCycle" delusion

As crypto soared, Zhu championed a theory of endless growth. Tweets about a "SuperCycle" flooded his account while he splurged on $50 million mansions and rare NFTs worth millions.

But the higher the tower, the harder the fall.

Crash changes everything

In 2022, Bitcoin plummeted, dragging the entire crypto market down. For Zhu, it was a death knell. His loans—secured by overvalued crypto—became unpayable.

Lenders panicked. Calls demanding repayment went unanswered as Zhu vanished.

In September 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued prohibition orders against Zhu and Davies.

The ban, effective from September 13, prohibited them for nine years from:

Collapse shocks crypto world

3AC, once a titan in the cryptocurrency industry managing billions in assets, filed for bankruptcy in mid-2022.

The hedge fund’s implosion followed a series of high-profile crashes in the crypto market, wiping out billions in investors’ assets.

Creditors claim 3AC owed up to $3.5 billion, with liquidators seeking to recover $1.3 billion from Zhu and Davies.

Zhu and Davis allegedly racked up significant losses while the company was already insolvent, exacerbating the financial damage to investors.

In sum, 3AC had racked up $3.5 billion in losses, leaving creditors bankrupt and thousands of investors wiped out.

From luxury to fugitive

While others faced ruin, Zhu fled. His life of luxury continued, even as courts chased his assets.

The façade ended in September 2023, when Zhu was caught at Singapore’s Changi Airport with a fake passport. Today, he faces 10 years in jail.

His mansions? Seized. His NFTs? Worthless. His reputation? Shattered.

A tale of leverage and illusions

In December 2023, Bloomberg reported that Zhu was scheduled for release after serving a four-month jail sentence in Singapore for non-compliance with liquidation investigations.

His early release, granted under standard provisions for good behaviour, marked another chapter in the ongoing saga of one of the cryptocurrency world’s most infamous collapses.

Jail time "a really enjoyable experience?" What Zhu actually said 

Reports surrounding Su Zhu’s recent jail time have raised eyebrows, with some suggesting he described his four-month sentence as a “really enjoyable experience.”

But what did the co-founder of the now-defunct crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) actually mean by this?

Context of the statement

In a recent statement reportedly made after his release, Zhu reflected on his time in jail. While the phrasing may seem shocking, Zhu’s comments appear to have been misinterpreted or taken out of context.

One viewpoint suggests that he was emphasising the relative calm and introspection he experienced while serving his time — a sharp contrast to the chaos of 3AC’s collapse and the mounting pressure from creditors and legal proceedings.

Public reaction

Zhu remarked that jail time provided him an "unexpected opportunity to reflect" and "step away from the noise of the crypto world." He described the period as offering "structure" and a chance to "think more clearly about the mistakes made."

Far from celebrating his incarceration, Zhu seemed to be acknowledging the rare quiet it afforded him in the midst of his financial and legal turmoil.

Zhu’s comments, whether genuine or misquoted, have sparked outrage among creditors and investors still reeling from 3AC’s $3.3 billion debt. Many viewed his remarks as tone-deaf, given the devastating financial losses thousands endured.

Social media has also been unforgiving, with some critics accusing Zhu of trivialising his failure to cooperate with the liquidation process, which led to his imprisonment in the first place.

A lesson in perception

Whether Zhu’s comments were poorly phrased or misunderstood, the backlash highlights a larger issue: the disconnect between his reflections and the public’s ongoing frustration. For many, the collapse of 3AC remains a painful reminder of the risks and failures in the unregulated crypto sector.

Zhu’s experience in jail may have been a period of clarity for him—but for those left to pick up the pieces of his fallen empire, it remains a symbol of accountability long overdue.

A chilling reminder

Zhu remains one of the most followed names due to his influence in the cryptocurrency market. But his story also serves as a chilling reminder: the very tools that build empires can just as easily reduce them to rubble.