Huobi founder Li Lin to join Asian group to launch $1B ETH treasury company

Li Lin, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Huobi and chairman of Hong Kong-based investment firm Avenir Capital, is reportedly joining some of the early backers of Ethereum to establish a $1 billion ETH-focused treasury project, marking one of Asia’s largest coordinated bets on the world’s second-largest blockchain network.

Li is joining forces with several of Asia’s earliest and most influential Ethereum backers — Shen Bo, co-founder of Fenbushi Capital; Xiao Feng, chairman and CEO of HashKey Group; and Cai Wensheng, founder of Meitu Inc. 

The group plans to create a regulated investment trust that will accumulate Ether (ETH) and related assets as institutional interest in digital assets accelerates.

The project, still under development, has reportedly raised about $1 billion so far, including $200 million from Li’s Avenir Capital and another $500 million from Asian institutional investors such as HongShan Capital Group. The consortium is said to be in talks to acquire a Nasdaq-listed shell company to facilitate the structure. 

The treasury wants to give investors regulated exposure to ETH as more institutional adopters are taking a favorable look at the digital asset following the relative success of Bitcoin. Sources close to the deal said that details of the plan remain fluid and could change before launch. An official announcement of the treasury is expected within two to three few weeks.

A second act for China’s crypto pioneers

Li sold Huobi, one of the world’s oldest and largest crypto exchanges, to entrepreneur Justin Sun after China’s 2021 ban on digital asset trading.

His new partners represent some of the “who’s who” of the Chinese crypto elite’s first generation. Shen Bo’s Fenbushi Capital was among the earliest institutional investors in Ethereum’s ecosystem, funding multiple blockchain infrastructure projects in the mid-2010s. 

Xiao Feng’s HashKey Group, meanwhile, was one of the first firms to obtain Hong Kong’s virtual-asset service provider license, giving it regulatory credibility that many mainland-linked crypto ventures lack.

Riding the institutional ETH wave

The new trust could become one of the largest dedicated institutional vehicles for Ethereum accumulation should it decide to go beyond $1 billion, rivaling the holdings of existing funds such as BitMine, SharpLink Gaming and Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust.

Since the market crash that occurred last week, ETH has been trading below $4,000, and according to investors like Tom Lee, this serves as a buying opportunity. BitMine has been active since then, accumulating more ETH, while SharpLink Gaming recently sold its shares at a premium to raise funds to add more ETH to its treasury holdings. 

More institutional acquisitions are ongoing, and it looks as if there will be more to come thanks to this upcoming trust. 

Repositioning for the post-ban era

With mainland China’s ban still in effect, Hong Kong has emerged as a bridge for regulated digital asset innovation, supported by a licensing framework that welcomes institutional investors while keeping retail speculation in check. 

HashKey, for instance, was the first to obtain both a Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 7 (automated trading services) license for digital assets in Hong Kong.

With Avenir Capital, Li has been able to build a solid track record in ETFs. The firm is one of the largest Bitcoin ETF holders in Asia, reportedly boasting over $1 billion in assets under management, and that gives them a degree of credibility with regulators and investors alike.