Li Lin's Private Trading Division to Integrate with Hong Kong-Listed Wealth Management Firm

Notable Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Li Lin is set to relocate his private trading operations to a Hong Kong-listed wealth management company under his control, driven by increasing investor interest in digital assets. The Hong Kong-listed company in question is Bitfire, a wealth management firm where Li serves as the largest shareholder. According to recent announcements, Bitfire intends to acquire a trading system and investment team from Li's family office, Avenir Group, for $1.6 million. This acquisition effectively transitions a portion of Li's in-house cryptocurrency operations into a publicly traded entity, providing a more straightforward path to attracting institutional investors. The move aligns with the region's broader trend, as mainland China has prohibited cryptocurrency trading since 2021, while Hong Kong is establishing itself as a regulated hub for digital assets, attracting firms seeking a compliant base. Recently, Hong Kong granted stablecoin licenses to major banks such as HSBC and Standard Chartered. Following the acquisition of Avenir's capabilities, Bitfire plans to introduce 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 pursue returns through derivatives trading, including options tied to bitcoin and products like the IBIT. Avenir has established a significant presence in bitcoin ETFs, holding 18.3 million shares of IBIT, issued by BlackRock, valued at around $908 million as of the end of 2025, according to the company's regulatory filings. Li previously founded Huobi, now known as HTX, and developed it into one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges before selling a controlling stake to Justin Sun for approximately $1 billion in 2022. Since then, he has focused on managing investments through Avenir.