Huobi Founder Launches $1 Billion Ethereum Trust

Li Lin, founder of Huobi, partners with influential Asian investors to launch a billion-dollar Ethereum trust. Supported by major names in Asian investment, the project aims to structure the accumulation of ETH within a regulated framework. While attention remains focused on Bitcoin and its ETFs, Ethereum is gaining ground as a treasury asset. This operation marks a step in the institutional rise of the network.

A historic fundraising for a strategic Ethereum trust

While Robert Kiyosaki bet on Ethereum and silver to protect himself from the weakness of the dollar, Li Lin, founder of Huobi and current chairman of Avenir Capital, partnered with several historic figures of Asian crypto to launch an asset trust exclusively focused on Ethereum this October 18.

The goal is to create a regulated investment structure to capture growing demand from financial institutions wishing to gain exposure to ETH. The group plans to structure the Ethereum trust through a company listed on Nasdaq.

This ambitious project by the founder of Huobi relies on already secured funding amounting to $1 billion. Here are the key points to remember regarding this fundraising:

• $500 million come from HongShan Capital Group, formerly known as Sequoia China;
• $200 million were contributed by Avenir Capital, the fund founded by Li Lin in Hong Kong;
• The rest of the funds would be completed by other private investors;
• Among the trust’s co-founders are Shen Bo (Fenbushi Capital), Xiao Feng (HashKey Group), and Cai Wensheng (Meitu Inc.), all early investors in Ethereum since 2015;
• The trust aims to offer regulated institutional exposure to ETH, in a legally structured format, potentially attractive to American and Asian markets.

This operation reflects a desire to structure investment products adapted to the standards of traditional financial markets, while capitalizing on the favorable momentum for Ethereum.

Towards an institutional normalization of Ethereum investment?

Beyond the financial operation, the announcement of the Ethereum trust fits into a context of transformation of Ethereum’s role in global finance. During the Digital Assets Summit (DAS) held in London this year, several industry figures highlighted Ethereum’s structural rise as an infrastructure platform for institutional finance.

During a panel, Joseph Lubin, CEO of Consensys, stated that Ethereum is attracting renewed confidence from institutions thanks to its advances in scalability and compliance. On his side, Joseph Chalom, co-CEO of SharpLink and former BlackRock executive, affirmed that despite recent market turmoil, Ethereum remains a cornerstone of upcoming tokenized financial solutions.

The speakers highlighted several catalysts for Ethereum’s institutional adoption, including on-chain fund issuances, tokenization of real assets, and the interoperability of decentralized systems with current regulatory standards.

These are precisely the elements that justify, according to observers, a massive renewed interest in regulated exposure to ETH. In this context, the strategy of the trust led by Li Lin and his partners appears as a long-term anticipation of a major financial shift.

This initiative could help redefine the competitive landscape between bitcoin and Ethereum in the institutional space. While bitcoin establishes itself as a store of value with 172 holding companies, Ethereum, through this trust, positions itself as programmable financial infrastructure. If the launch scheduled in the coming weeks meets its promises, it could catalyze other initiatives of the same type, thus reinforcing the trend toward the financialization of blockchains.

Luc Jose A.

Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019. Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.