Li Lin's Private Trading Operation to Join Hong Kong-Listed Wealth Management Firm

The private trading empire of Chinese cryptocurrency billionaire Li Lin is poised to be integrated into a Hong Kong-listed company under his control, a strategic move aimed at meeting the growing demand for digital assets from investors. The Hong Kong-listed firm in question is Bitfire, a wealth management company in which Li holds the largest share. According to a recent announcement, Bitfire 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 listed entity, providing a clearer pathway 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 positioning itself as a regulated hub for digital assets, thereby drawing the interest of firms 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 known as 'Alpha BTC', with the ambitious target of managing over 10,000 bitcoins, valued at approximately $760 million in assets, within a year. This strategy aims to generate returns through derivatives trading, including options tied to bitcoin and other products like the 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, according to the company's regulatory filings. Li, the founder of Huobi, now known as HTX, 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.