Chinese language crypto billionaire Li Lin’s non-public buying and selling empire will quickly transfer right into a Hong Kong-listed firm he controls, in a transfer designed to cater to rising investor demand for digital belongings.
That Hong Kong-listed agency is Bitfire, a wealth administration firm, the place Li is the most important shareholder. Bitfire mentioned Wednesday that it’ll pay $1.6 million to accumulate a buying and selling system and funding workforce from Li’s circle of relatives workplace Avenir Group, according to Reuters.
Whereas structured as a purchase order, the deal successfully transfers a part of Li’s in-house crypto operation right into a publicly listed car, giving it a clearer path to draw institutional buyers.
The timing displays a broader shift within the area. Mainland China has banned crypto buying and selling since 2021, however Hong Kong is positioning itself as a regulated hub for digital belongings, drawing curiosity from companies in search of a compliant base. Hong Kong not too long ago awarded stablecoin licenses to to HSBC and Commonplace Chartered.
By buying Avenir’s capabilities, Bitfire plans to roll out a bitcoin-focused technique, “Alpha BTC,” concentrating on greater than 10,000 bitcoins, price about $760 million, in belongings inside a yr.
The technique will search returns by means of derivatives buying and selling, together with choices tied to bitcoin and merchandise just like the IBIT.
Avenir has constructed a major place in bitcoin ETFs, holding 18.3 million shares of IBIT, issued by BlackRock, valued at about $908 million as of the top of 2025, as per the corporate’s regulatory submitting.
Li based Huobi, now often known as HTX, and constructed it into one of many world’s largest crypto exchanges earlier than promoting a controlling stake to Justin Solar for about $1 billion in 2022. He has since centered on managing investments by means of Avenir.
