BroadChain News, April 27 - Li Lin, founder of HTX (formerly Huobi), is integrating the Bitcoin trading team and infrastructure of his family office Avenir Group into Hong Kong-listed company Bitfire Group, launching a compliant asset management strategy named Alpha BTC. The strategy aims to attract over 10,000 Bitcoins (approximately $760 million at current prices), becoming Asia's first large-scale Bitcoin fund operating under a local regulatory framework.
Bitfire CEO Weng Xiaoqi stated that Alpha BTC will utilize derivatives linked to Bitcoin or BlackRock's IBIT ETF. Avenir already holds $908 million in IBIT positions, making it one of Asia's largest holders of US Bitcoin ETFs. This move aims to "pull back" Asian capital from US ETFs and offshore platforms to Hong Kong, integrating Bitcoin exposure into local financial infrastructure rather than relying on Wall Street's "shell."
Hong Kong is striving to compete for Bitcoin's "packaging rights" through regulatory innovation. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has approved licenses for virtual asset trading platforms and allows licensed platforms to share global order books. The stablecoin bill passed in May 2025 and the licensing system launched in August further strengthen the local compliant ecosystem. Li Lin's move epitomizes this trend: enabling large-scale Bitcoin funds to operate in Asian time zones under Asian rules, serving family offices, listed companies, and high-net-worth investors.