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

In a strategic move, the private trading empire of Chinese cryptocurrency billionaire Li Lin is poised to be integrated into a Hong Kong-listed company under his control, catering to the escalating demand for digital assets from investors. The Hong Kong-listed firm in question, Bitfire, a wealth management company where Li holds the largest share, announced on Wednesday its intention to acquire a trading system and investment team from Li's family office, Avenir Group, for $1.6 million, as reported by Reuters. Structured as an acquisition, the deal effectively transfers a component of Li's in-house cryptocurrency operations into a publicly-traded entity, providing a clearer pathway for attracting institutional investors. This development aligns with the broader regional trend, where mainland China has prohibited cryptocurrency trading since 2021, yet Hong Kong is positioning itself as a regulated hub for digital assets, thereby attracting interest from firms seeking a compliant base. Recent examples include Hong Kong's issuance of stablecoin licenses to banking giants HSBC and Standard Chartered. By acquiring Avenir's capabilities, Bitfire aims to introduce a bitcoin-focused strategy dubbed 'Alpha BTC', targeting the management of over 10,000 bitcoins, equivalent to approximately $760 million in assets, within a year. This strategy will pursue returns via derivatives trading, including options tied to bitcoin and products similar to the IBIT. Avenir has established a substantial position in bitcoin ETFs, holding 18.3 million shares of IBIT, issued by BlackRock, valued at roughly $908 million as of the end of 2025, according to the company's regulatory filing. Notably, Li founded Huobi, now known as HTX, and transformed 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.