Huobi founder Li Lin taps Bitfire to recover $760M in disputed Bitcoin

Huobi founder Li Lin is moving his Avenir trading team into Hong Kong-listed Bitfire, which paid $1.6 million for the team and systems and plans to raise capital for a regulated bitcoin-denominated product called Alpha BTC. Bitfire aims to attract more than 10,000 BTC (about $760 million at the cited value) within a year and intends to generate returns via derivatives trading, including options, using bitcoin or the IBIT ETF as underlying assets. The push comes as Hong Kong advances crypto regulation and issues stablecoin licenses, potentially boosting demand from local companies (an estimated 40 HK-listed firms already hold BTC). Market impact: a new regulated vehicle could channel significant institutional inflows into bitcoin and expand demand for bitcoin-linked derivatives and ETFs, a bullish signal for BTC liquidity and price support.