Li Lin moves Avenir trading team to Bitfire as firm lines up $500 million in commitments

Bloomberg reported on April 22 that Li Lin is transferring an approximately 20-person trading team from his family office, Avenir Group, to Bitfire Group, a Hong Kong-listed wealth management company in which he holds a 30% stake. The move is aimed at strengthening Bitfire's appeal to private banking clients. Bitfire CEO Livio Weng said the company will take over both the team and its trading system from Avenir. Avenir has confirmed the transaction. Following the addition, Bitfire has secured about $500 million in initial investment commitments from family offices and publicly listed companies. Bitfire launched its private banking business in August last year and has added roughly 300 clients since, mainly family offices, listed companies, and high-net-worth individuals. The firm plans to broaden its trading strategies to include Ethereum and stablecoins later this year. Bitfire expects assets under management in its private banking unit to surpass $1 billion within two years.