Li Lin's Private Trading Arm to Join Hong Kong-Listed Wealth Management Firm

The private trading empire of Chinese cryptocurrency billionaire Li Lin is poised to be integrated into a Hong Kong-listed company under his control, a strategic move aimed at meeting the increasing demand for digital assets from investors. The Hong Kong-listed firm in question, Bitfire, a wealth management company where Li serves as the largest shareholder, announced on Wednesday its plan to acquire a trading system and investment team from Li's family office, Avenir Group, for $1.6 million, as reported by Reuters. Although structured as an acquisition, the deal essentially transfers a portion of Li's in-house cryptocurrency operation to a publicly traded entity, providing a clearer pathway for attracting institutional investors. This move aligns with the broader trend in the region, as mainland China has prohibited cryptocurrency trading since 2021, while Hong Kong is establishing itself as a regulated hub for digital assets, attracting interest from companies seeking a compliant base. Recently, Hong Kong granted stablecoin licenses to major banks such as HSBC and Standard Chartered. By acquiring Avenir's capabilities, Bitfire intends to launch a bitcoin-focused strategy called 'Alpha BTC', aiming to manage over 10,000 bitcoins, valued at approximately $760 million, in assets within a year. The strategy will focus on generating returns through derivatives trading, including options tied to bitcoin and products like the IBIT. Avenir has established a significant position in bitcoin ETFs, holding 18.3 million shares of IBIT, issued by BlackRock, valued at about $908 million as of the end of 2025, according to the company's regulatory filing. Li, who founded Huobi, now known as HTX, and built it into one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges before selling a controlling stake to Justin Sun for about $1 billion in 2022, has since focused on managing investments through Avenir.