Managing Director
HongShanCheck size: No current person-specific HSG check size is publicly disclosed. Historical Pantera work spans early-stage through growth, but those prior fund parameters should not be assumed to apply to his HSG role.
Nihal's current HSG mandate is not yet public, so the defensible personal thesis comes from his prior first-person and attributed work: blockchain can extend open finance and coordination into payments, tokenization, consumer applications and open AI; early-stage decisions remain founder-led, with resilience through market cycles, practical utility and strong local-market understanding carrying more weight than hype.
Resilient founders capable of navigating full market cycles; technically strong teams turning blockchain into practical applications; full-stack products with exceptional execution and measurable usage; open AI systems that reward data, model and compute contributors; and local partners or founders who understand region-specific users, regulation and distribution.
No current HSG pass list is public. His historical writing contrasts practical applications and founder resilience with hype: projects without real utility, teams unable to survive volatility, generic regional expansion without trusted local insight, and products whose blockchain or AI ownership layer does not improve the user outcome are weak fits by that evidence.
Use only HSG's official website or verified LinkedIn channels until a person-specific HSG contact is published; HSG warns that it does not solicit investments or payments over social media. State that the pitch is for his current HSG role, not Pantera. Lead with founder-market fit, resilience, product usage, local-market insight and the concrete role of blockchain. Do not use his historical @panteracapital.com address.
At early stage, prioritize founders who can navigate volatility and the full range of market swings rather than optimizing for a single narrative or bull market.
Move from protocol novelty to a concrete application in payments, tokenization, DeFi or consumer behavior that makes blockchain's global impact legible.
For regional expansion, require reliable local partners and genuine understanding of users, regulation and distribution rather than copying a global playbook.
Evaluate whether blockchain makes AI systems fairer and more open through verifiable provenance, identity and rewards for data, model and compute contributors.
For trading and consumer products, treat rapid product delivery, measurable usage share and distribution inside a live ecosystem as evidence beyond narrative.
A focused full-stack trading product can win through exceptional execution and measurable distribution inside a fast-growing onchain ecosystem.
Crypto research is fragmented and mainstream AI remains weak on precise onchain questions, creating an opportunity for domain-specific AI agents and data tooling.
Layer-2 scaling gives blockchains a broadband-like step change in capacity and cost that can unlock a much broader generation of applications.
Hands-on work at 0x converted skepticism into conviction that blockchain can reach real-world finance and coordination through DeFi, infrastructure, payments, tokenization and consumer applications.
Quote coverage is incomplete. Kit can look for direct comments on markets, founders, and investment criteria.
Nihal Maunder is a Managing Director at HSG (HongShan), after serving on Pantera Capital's investment team from 2023 to mid-2026. At Pantera he worked on early-stage, venture and growth investments across DeFi, infrastructure, consumer applications, AI x crypto and regional Web3 ecosystems. Previously he worked in product and growth at 0x Labs, invested at Toyota Ventures, and co-founded an AI/ML talent startup while at UC Berkeley.