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

A significant development is underway for Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Li Lin, as his private trading empire is set to be integrated into a Hong Kong-listed company under his control. The company in question, Bitfire, a wealth management firm, will acquire a trading system and investment team from Li's family office, Avenir Group, for $1.6 million. This acquisition effectively transitions part of Li's in-house cryptocurrency operations into a publicly traded entity, providing a clearer pathway for attracting institutional investors. The move aligns with Hong Kong's efforts to establish itself as a regulated hub for digital assets, following mainland China's ban on crypto trading in 2021. Recently, Hong Kong granted stablecoin licenses to major banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered, further solidifying its position. With the acquisition of Avenir's capabilities, Bitfire aims to introduce a bitcoin-focused strategy called 'Alpha BTC', targeting over 10,000 bitcoins, valued at approximately $760 million, within the first year. The strategy involves generating returns through derivatives trading, including bitcoin options and products like the IBIT. Notably, Avenir has established a substantial position in bitcoin ETFs, holding 18.3 million shares of IBIT, issued by BlackRock, with a value of around $908 million as of 2025. Li, the founder of Huobi, now known as HTX, had previously built it into one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges before selling a majority stake to Justin Sun for about $1 billion in 2022. Since then, he has focused on managing investments through Avenir.