From Zero to Hero: Inside Moore Threads' Explosive IPO and Its Founder's Controversial Journey

When Moore Threads hit the STAR Market on December 5, the GPU chip sector was set ablaze. The stock opened at 650 yuan—a staggering 468.78% surge from its 114.28 yuan issue price, catapulting the company’s market value past 300 billion yuan on day one. Winning investors who snagged a single lottery lot of 500 shares walked away with over 267,000 yuan in instant gains. The frenzy was real: only about 0.03635% of applicants won allocations, meaning roughly 2,750 hopefuls chased every successful ticket.

The Blueprint Behind a 9.5 Billion Yuan Dream

Moore Threads’ ascent mirrors China’s determined push to break free from foreign GPU dependency. Since launching in 2020, the company has closed eight funding rounds, amassing over 9.498 billion yuan in capital. The backer list reads like a who’s who of China’s tech elite—Sequoia China, Shenzhen Capital Group, Tencent, and ByteDance among them—a potent blend of venture capital, state-backed funds, and corporate investment vehicles.

The company’s flagship products, the Sudi and Chunxiao GPU chips, are already powering critical national infrastructure, including the Gui’an AI Computing Center, and drive collaborations across the industry. Yet here’s the paradox: despite cumulative losses of 5.939 billion yuan between 2022 and 2025, with gross margins still firmly in red, the market remains mesmerized by the promise.

The returns speak volumes. E Fund Management booked nearly 1.9 billion yuan in paper profits on day one. Early backers like Tencent and ByteDance are basking in 35x-plus returns. But Peixian Qianyao claimed the crown—a jaw-dropping 6,200-fold return that underscores the appetite for homegrown semiconductor breakthroughs.

The Man Behind the Machine: Co-founder Li Feng’s Multifaceted Past

Li Feng, Moore Threads’ co-founder and dean of Moore Academy, is the architect of this vision. His résumé sprawls across chips, AI, 3D engines, gaming, VR/AR, and even biomedicine—a career that embodies China’s tech entrepreneurship.

But before Moore Threads etched his name in chip history, Li Feng’s portfolio included chapters that reveal the messier side of the sector’s early days. His ventures into emerging tech fields weren’t always smooth sailing, and his history outside the semiconductor space illustrates the gambles and controversies that have dotted China’s tech frontier.

When Blockchain Projects Go Sideways: The Malegecoin Episode

In 2017, during the peak of crypto enthusiasm, Li Feng co-launched a blockchain-based project with several industry figures. Billed as “the first modern performance art piece on blockchain,” it raised 5,000 ETH through crowdfunding—a feat that would have been unthinkable just years later.

The project’s ambitions seemed boundless: an AI cloud system with token-linked robots, surplus computing resources designed to bolster token value, and a token reserve locked until the year 2100. The team was introduced as PhDs, returnees, and investment bankers—though many credentials later proved exaggerated.

The project rode the hype wave, completing its fundraising in just a week. But momentum evaporated quickly. Regulatory scrutiny over the project’s branding forced a rebranding to “Alpaca Coin MGD.” As market conditions shifted and oversight tightened, the project faded into obscurity, its token price languishing.

The Bitcoin Debt That Time Made Worth a Fortune

If Malegecoin was the absurd chapter, then a separate 1,500 BTC debt dispute added moral complexity to Li Feng’s story. In mid-2018, a prominent industry figure publicly accused Li Feng of borrowing 1,500 bitcoins (valued at roughly 80 million yuan at the time) and vanishing without repayment. The accuser posted loan documents and video evidence, escalated to multi-jurisdictional lawsuits, and filed asset preservation requests.

Li Feng’s defense: the bitcoins were actually investment capital for the blockchain project mentioned above, not a loan. When the project failed to materialize, the investor regretted the commitment and demanded refunds. Both sides remained entrenched.

Here’s where timing and volatility intersect dramatically. In mid-2018, Bitcoin traded around $7,000, making that 1,500 BTC worth approximately $10 million. Fast forward to early 2026: with BTC trading near $92.16K, those same coins are now valued at approximately $138.24 million—a reminder that crypto asset disputes carry exponentially escalating stakes.

Legally, the situation typified the enforcement maze facing creditors in crypto disputes. Bitcoin is classified as a “specific virtual commodity” under Chinese law, loan enforcement remains thorny, and jurisdictional challenges compounded the difficulties. The debt collection effort ultimately stalled.

What Moore Threads’ Debut Reveals About China’s Tech Gamble

The contrast between Moore Threads’ polished IPO and its co-founder’s complicated past illustrates a broader truth: China’s semiconductor surge is built by entrepreneurs with diverse, sometimes fraught histories. Li Feng’s journey—from blockchain experiments to GPU chip leadership—encapsulates the sector’s evolution from speculative excess to strategic infrastructure.

The 300 billion yuan market cap reflects not just the company’s technical promise, but confidence that “yuan coin” value—whether measured in national yuan or blockchain assets—can be redirected toward building lasting technological capacity. Moore Threads’ mission remains clear: establish Chinese independence in GPU design, moving from domestic substitution to global competition.

The IPO’s explosive debut suggests the market believes in the mission. Whether Li Feng’s checkered entrepreneurial past influences investor risk calculations remains an open question—but the capital commitment says the bet on Moore Threads itself is all-in.