Huobi Founder Li Lin Raises $1B With Partners to Accumulate Ethereum

Huobi founder Li Lin has joined forces with some of Asia’s earliest Ethereum backers to launch a $1 billion digital asset trust aimed at accumulating Ether (ETH). Key Takeaways: Huobi founder Li Lin and prominent Asian crypto investors have raised $1 billion to launch an Ether-focused digital asset ￰0￱ trust includes major backers such as HongShan Capital and Avenir ￰1￱ initiative aims to capitalize on rising institutional demand for Ethereum. Li, who also chairs Avenir Capital, is working alongside Shen Bo, co-founder of Fenbushi Capital; Xiao Feng, chairman and CEO of HashKey Group; and Cai Wensheng, the founder of photo-editing app Meitu ￰2￱ one of China’s most prominent crypto investors, Bloomberg reported , citing people familiar with the ￰3￱ Founder’s $1B Ether Trust Nears Launch The group plans to structure the Ether trust through a Nasdaq-listed shell company, providing a regulated framework for institutional ￰4￱ project has already raised about $1 billion, including $500 million from HongShan Capital Group (formerly Sequoia China) and $200 million from Li’s Avenir, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because discussions remain ￰5￱ official announcement is expected within the next few ￰6￱ trust is designed to offer regulated exposure to Ether and related digital assets, at a time when institutional interest in crypto is accelerating following the success of US spot Bitcoin ￰7￱ move positions Li’s group to capture growing investor demand for Ethereum-based financial products as the market anticipates the approval of spot Ether ETFs in major jurisdictions.

NEW: HUOBI FOUNDER LI LIN TO LAUNCH $1B $ETH TRUST WITH EARLY $ETH INVESTORS ￰8￱ — The Wolf Of All Streets (@scottmelker) October 17, 2025 Li, who founded Huobi in 2013, turned it into one of the world’s top exchanges before selling it to entrepreneur Justin Sun after China’s crypto ban in ￰9￱ later established Avenir Capital, a Hong Kong-based investment firm that has become one of Asia’s largest holders of Bitcoin ETFs, with over $1 billion in assets under ￰10￱ partners, Shen, Xiao, and Cai, are part of the first wave of Chinese crypto entrepreneurs who began investing in Ethereum shortly after its 2015 launch. Shen’s Fenbushi Capital backed several early blockchain projects; Xiao’s HashKey was among the first to secure Hong Kong’s virtual asset trading license; and Cai has made multiple headline-making crypto investments through his personal ￰11￱ Poised for ‘Trillion-Dollar Phase’ as Institutions Flock to Quality At the Digital Assets Summit (DAS) 2025 in London, top industry figures, including Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin and SharpLink Co-CEO Joseph Chalom, discussed Ethereum’s growing role as the foundation for institutional ￰12￱ panel, titled “The Path to Trillions: Ethereum’s Institutional Dominance,” explored how Ethereum’s infrastructure, staking yields, and tokenization capabilities are making it central to the next wave of global financial ￰13￱ highlighted key catalysts for institutional adoption, including on-chain fund issuance, interoperability, and improved regulatory clarity, that could cement Ethereum’s dominance in decentralized finance (DeFi) and tokenized real-world ￰14￱ noted that Ethereum’s evolution toward scalability and compliance is drawing renewed institutional confidence.

Chalom, a former BlackRock executive, reflected on last week’s crypto market crash, calling it “a terrible day for humans,” and blaming “insidious leverage garbage” for the turmoil.