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

Renowned Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Li Lin is set to relocate his private trading empire to a Hong Kong-listed company under his control, in a strategic move aimed at capitalizing on the growing demand for digital assets among investors. The Hong Kong-listed firm in question, Bitfire, is a wealth management company in which Li holds the largest share. According to a recent announcement, Bitfire will be acquiring a trading system and investment team from Li's family office, Avenir Group, for a sum of $1.6 million. This acquisition, while structured as a purchase, essentially transfers a portion of Li's in-house cryptocurrency operations to a publicly traded entity, thereby providing a more straightforward path for attracting institutional investors. The timing of this move aligns with a larger regional trend, as mainland China has prohibited cryptocurrency trading since 2021, while Hong Kong is actively positioning 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. Following the acquisition of Avenir's capabilities, Bitfire intends to launch a bitcoin-focused strategy, dubbed 'Alpha BTC,' with the ambitious target of managing over 10,000 bitcoins, equivalent to approximately $760 million in assets, within a year. This strategy will pursue returns through derivatives trading, including options linked to bitcoin and products similar to the IBIT. Avenir has established a substantial position in bitcoin ETFs, currently holding 18.3 million shares of IBIT, issued by BlackRock, with a valuation of around $908 million as of the end of 2025, according to the company's regulatory filings. Li, who 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, has since focused on managing investments through Avenir.