Li Lin's Private Trading Operation to be Absorbed by Hong Kong-Listed Wealth Management Firm

Billionaire Li Lin is set to relocate his private trading operations to a Hong Kong-listed company under his control, a move aimed at capitalizing on the growing demand for digital assets among investors. The company in question, Bitfire, a wealth management firm where Li is the largest shareholder, is poised to acquire a trading system and investment team from Li's family office, Avenir Group, for $1.6 million. This acquisition effectively shifts part of Li's in-house crypto trading into a publicly listed entity, streamlining its ability to attract institutional investment. The move comes as Hong Kong positions itself as a hub for digital assets, following mainland China's ban on crypto trading in 2021. Recently, Hong Kong granted stablecoin licenses to major banks such as HSBC and Standard Chartered, underscoring its commitment to regulated digital asset markets. With the acquisition of Avenir's capabilities, Bitfire intends to launch a bitcoin-focused strategy known as 'Alpha BTC', aiming to manage over 10,000 bitcoins, valued at approximately $760 million, within a year. This strategy will involve generating returns through derivatives trading, including bitcoin options and products like IBIT. Avenir has already established a significant presence in bitcoin ETFs, holding 18.3 million shares of IBIT, issued by BlackRock, which were valued at about $908 million as of the end of 2025. Li, the founder of Huobi (now HTX), one of the world's largest crypto exchanges before its sale to Justin Sun for about $1 billion in 2022, has been focusing on investment management through Avenir.