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

Billionaire crypto investor Li Lin is set to relocate his private trading business into a Hong Kong-listed company under his control, aiming to capitalize on the growing demand for digital assets among investors. The company in question, Bitfire, a wealth management firm where Li holds the majority stake, announced plans to acquire a trading system and investment team from Li's family office, Avenir Group, for $1.6 million. This strategic move effectively transitions a portion of Li's in-house crypto operations to a publicly traded entity, providing a clearer pathway to attract institutional investors. The shift is part of a larger regional trend, as Hong Kong positions 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 such as HSBC and Standard Chartered. With the acquisition of Avenir's capabilities, Bitfire intends to launch a bitcoin-focused strategy called 'Alpha BTC', aiming to manage over $760 million in assets within the first year. The strategy will focus on generating returns through derivatives trading, including bitcoin options and products like IBIT. Avenir has established a significant presence in bitcoin ETFs, holding 18.3 million shares of IBIT, valued at approximately $908 million as of 2025. Li, the founder of Huobi, now known as HTX, previously built the company into one of the world's largest crypto exchanges before selling a controlling stake to Justin Sun for around $1 billion in 2022, and has since concentrated on managing investments through Avenir.