Li Lin Moves Trading System to Bitfire as Hong Kong Bets Bigger on Bitcoin Finance

Li Lin Backs Bitfire Push as Hong Kong Builds Regulated Bitcoin Asset Market

Chinese crypto entrepreneur Li Lin is relocating a trading system and investment team from his family office, Avenir Group, to Hong Kong-listed Bitfire Group, as the city accelerates its push to attract institutional digital asset capital.

Bitfire confirmed on Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Avenir’s investment team and trading infrastructure for $1.6 million, as reported by Reuters. Li, who is Bitfire’s largest shareholder, previously built Huobi—now known as HTX—into one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges before China’s regulatory crackdown reshaped the domestic crypto sector.

Cryptocurrency trading has been banned in mainland China since 2021, but Hong Kong has moved in the opposite direction, positioning itself as a regulated hub for virtual assets and institutional crypto services.

Shift Toward Institutional Bitcoin Strategies

Following the acquisition, Bitfire plans to raise external capital to develop regulated bitcoin-denominated asset management products under a strategy branded “Alpha BTC.”

Bitfire CEO Livio Weng said the firm aims to attract investment equivalent to more than 10,000 bitcoins—roughly $760 million at current prices—within the next year.

Weng said demand for structured Bitcoin investment products is growing among both crypto-native investors and traditional firms in Hong Kong that already hold digital assets but lack structured yield-generating strategies.

“Market demand for such products is huge,” he said, noting that a rising number of listed companies in Hong Kong now hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets.

Derivatives-Driven Yield Strategy

The Alpha BTC strategy will generate returns through derivatives trading, including options strategies, using Bitcoin or the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT.O) as underlying exposure.

Bitfire said the target client base will include institutional investors and Hong Kong-based corporate treasuries seeking regulated exposure to Bitcoin yield strategies rather than direct spot trading.

According to Bitfire estimates, at least 40 Hong Kong-listed companies currently hold Bitcoin, reflecting growing corporate adoption of digital assets in the region.

Hong Kong Competes for Crypto Capital

Bitcoin recently traded near $76,000, recovering from a volatile first quarter that saw sharp market swings across risk assets.

Avenir Group has meanwhile become one of Asia’s largest institutional Bitcoin ETF investors. By the end of 2025, the firm held 18.3 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, valued at approximately $908 million, according to regulatory filings.

The move to integrate Avenir’s trading infrastructure into Bitfire reflects a broader trend in Hong Kong: the gradual institutionalization of Bitcoin exposure through regulated financial products, rather than offshore or unregulated trading channels.