Last month, at the "Future Boundless" Quantitative Summit held in Hong Kong, Avenir Crypto, a subsidiary of the emerging family office Avenir Group, announced that it will invest $500 million to support the top quantitative teams in the market, which immediately drew widespread attention in the industry. At the same time, the focus of discussion was the founder of Avenir Group, who is none other than Li Lin, the founder of Huobi. After a period of silence, this veteran of the crypto industry has returned to the market in the capacity of the founder of a new-generation family office, leaving the outside world curious: What kind of institution is Avenir Group and Avenir Crypto?
For this purpose, BlockBeats specially invited Jason Lan, the CEO of Avenir Crypto, for an in-depth interview. According to Jason, Avenir Group was established last year and is an institutionalized family office, different from traditional family offices, with a more diverse investment scope covering traditional finance and crypto assets, with businesses including crypto asset trading, quantitative trading, public market investment, private equity and venture capital, etc. As a new-generation family office, Avenir Group focuses on emerging technology investment and incubation, committed to promoting the deep integration of innovative finance and traditional finance, and further shaping the future landscape of the financial industry. Avenir Group has four major sub-brands: Avenir Crypto, Avenir Capital, Avenir Innovation and Avenir Foundation, fully demonstrating its comprehensive and strategic business layout.
Jason has been deeply involved in the crypto asset field for many years and has rich experience. He is an important leader in Avenir Group's foray into the crypto investment field. We are very fortunate to have invited Jason to have an in-depth discussion with us on Avenir Group's business layout, core philosophy and its insights into the industry, to unveil the mysterious veil of this new-generation institutionalized family office. The following is the dialogue with Jason organized by BlockBeats.
Avenir Crypto's Innovation in Quantitative Trading for the Crypto Asset Industry
BlockBeats: Please introduce yourself first. I see that you have been in the traditional finance field before. What was the impetus that led you to enter the crypto industry?
Jason Lan: I developed a strong interest in technology and financial systems during my university years, which laid the foundation for my future career. I majored in automation at Tsinghua University, focusing on software and information engineering, and later took elective courses in corporate information management during my postgraduate studies. After graduating with a master's degree in 2008, I joined the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong, responsible for the technical work of stock and derivatives trading. As I accumulated experience in the trading field, my interest in stock and derivatives trading grew stronger. To further enhance my professional capabilities, I pursued a master's degree in financial engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2014, systematically learning corporate finance, derivatives, and stock pricing models. During this process, I met many outstanding classmates, especially Li Lin. In fact, we were classmates at Tsinghua University. In 2016, he came from Beijing to Shenzhen to invite me to join Huobi. His passion for the crypto industry and his unique insights into the future deeply inspired me, and I also successfully helped Huobi establish its derivatives trading segment.
My knowledge and experience combine the needs of traditional finance and the emerging crypto industry, and my choice to transition from traditional finance to the crypto industry is based on my foresight of the market. Since the rise of the crypto industry, I have felt that this will be an irreversible trend in the financial industry, and I have long had the idea of mainstreaming innovative finance, which is in line with Avenir Group's vision. To this day, I remain confident in the prospects for the integration of the crypto industry and traditional finance.
BlockBeats: So you have had rich experience in traditional finance. Can you compare the trading of traditional financial products and crypto assets? What are the biggest differences? What are the differences in terms of technical requirements, market volatility, risk management, etc.?
Jason Lan: In terms of technology, the generation of crypto assets and the technology-driven nature of trading make them highly dependent on technology. For example, we provide 24/7 trading, with huge trading volumes and order numbers on various trading platforms, so we need a high-performance trading platform for connection, order routing and execution management. Compared to traditional finance, the technical infrastructure of crypto assets is still not mature enough and is still in the development stage.
In terms of market volatility, due to the lack of fundamental research, the market volatility of crypto assets tends to be dominated by market sentiment, news, capital, and expectations of the future, different from the traditional financial market, which is more easily affected by corporate performance and market conditions.
In terms of risk management, the financial derivatives supporting crypto assets are not as complete as traditional finance. At present, there is no well-developed risk pricing market in the crypto asset field, while the traditional financial market has developed various financial derivatives for risk pricing and interest rate pricing, such as credit default swaps (CDS) in traditional finance to assess a company's risk, but in the crypto asset field, there are only spot and contract products, without further risk pricing financial products and markets.
Based on the above differences, as well as the differences in market operation time, regulatory environment, asset nature, and trading methods, there are significant differences between the two in terms of trading strategies, risk management, and investment considerations.
BlockBeats: Congratulations again on the successful hosting of the "Future Boundless - Avenir Quant Summit". At the summit, Avenir Crypto announced the launch of the "Excellence Partner Program". What the market wants to know most is, what is Avenir Crypto mainly doing?
Jason Lan: Avenir Crypto is Avenir Group's crypto investment platform dedicated to institutional investors. Our focus is on innovation in crypto asset management and quantitative trading strategies, with the aim of providing institutional investors with stable growth opportunities in the crypto market. Specifically, we rely on our self-developed data models and risk management systems, using quantitative analysis, options strategies and other means to continuously pursue excellent performance and stable returns.
Avenir Crypto's strength is self-evident. According to the 13-F holdings report of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the second quarter of this year, we have become the largest institutional holder of the two mainstream Bitcoin ETFs in Asia. Relying on our deep insights into Web3 and crypto assets and our outstanding performance, Avenir Crypto has always been at the forefront of the industry. At the same time, our other core mission is to promote the development of financial technology and become a bridge connecting innovative finance and traditional finance, helping crypto assets become an important part of mainstream finance.
BlockBeats: The "Excellence Partner Program" invests $500 million to support excellent quantitative teams. What is the reason and opportunity behind the idea of investing in quantitative teams? Especially considering that the industry generally uses this capital to invest in the primary market or as an LP.
Jason Lan: The primary market is indeed important, but we believe that quantitative trading represents the forefront of financial technology innovation. Avenir Crypto's team has rich experience in the secondary market, including professional backgrounds from investment banking trading. We firmly believe that investing in quantitative teams is more in line with our technology-driven investment philosophy. By attracting top quantitative teams in the industry, we not only can increase the diversity of strategies and enhance capital returns, but also hope to drive continuous innovation in the crypto asset and financial technology fields through our joint growth with these teams.
BlockBeats: What is the biggest vision and goal of this "Excellent Partner Program"? How can interested teams participate?
Lan Jianzhong: The vision and goal of the "Excellent Partner Program" is to attract outstanding quantitative teams in the industry through investment, and to enhance the diversity of investment strategies for quantitative trading. At the same time, through the synergistic effects with quantitative teams in terms of capital, technology, analytical capabilities and global information networks, we will continuously promote the healthy and innovative development of the crypto asset trading industry and the fintech field, and jointly explore the profit potential in the fintech field, improve capital returns, and create greater returns.
We have already had discussions with more than 100 selected outstanding teams, and we look forward to more excellent quantitative teams joining the Avenir Crypto alliance. Interested teams can contact us through the official website or the cooperation email partners@avenir.hk.
BlockBeats: This year can be said to be the first year of crypto asset ETFs, with the US and Hong Kong approving their own Bitcoin ETFs, etc. Avenir Group is also the largest Bitcoin ETF holding institution in Asia. How do you view the phenomenon and trend of the integration of traditional finance and crypto assets?
Lan Jianzhong: I believe that the integration of traditional finance and crypto assets, and the transformation of crypto assets into an asset class, is undoubtedly the biggest trend in the next few years. One of the key factors in this integration is regulation. Any financial product that wants to grow and develop sustainably in the market must be incorporated into the regulatory framework to protect the rights and interests of external investors. The integration of the crypto asset market with traditional finance can allow the former to utilize the mature market regulatory framework that the latter has developed over a long period of time, making it easier to incorporate crypto assets as an alternative asset into the mainstream.
In addition, we have observed that this trend will bring different opportunities for different types of investors, such as traditional high-net-worth individuals, investment banks, and trading strategies. Crypto assets and their derivatives have relatively low correlation with the traditional financial market, and can serve as an excellent alternative asset to effectively hedge against the potential risks brought by the high correlation of traditional assets.
BlockBeats: One of the most important foundations of quantitative trading is data and models. How does Avenir Crypto develop its own strategies?
Lan Jianzhong: Avenir Crypto has invested a lot of resources in data, research strategies, and infrastructure construction. We have a professional team for data collection, including on-chain and off-chain analysis, investment strategy research, and global macroeconomic research, and we conduct in-depth analysis of the impact of major events such as presidential elections on the market. This data is then handed over to different trading teams for factor decomposition, to build a proprietary factor library, and to extract effective factors through machine learning algorithms, which are then applied to various trading models. In addition, the group has a professional risk control and trading execution team responsible for asset strategy risk management and efficient trading execution. Our research team also closely monitors global macroeconomic dynamics and establishes an intelligent investment factor library, which are the core competitiveness of Avenir Crypto.
Avenir Group's Vision
BlockBeats: You just mentioned that Avenir Crypto is an important part of Avenir Group, which was founded by Mr. Li Lin. Can you first introduce to us what kind of institution this family office of Mr. Li Lin is?
Lan Jianzhong: Avenir Group was founded by Mr. Li Lin in 2023, and our goal is to become a globally-focused, industry-leading family office and investment management group. We mainly focus on investing in emerging technologies and fintech, and drive industry development through a diversified and stable investment platform, serving as a bridge between innovative finance and traditional finance. Currently, our business has expanded to the US, UK, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, building a diversified and innovation-driven global investment ecosystem.
BlockBeats: What are the main business layouts of Avenir Group now?
Lan Jianzhong: Avenir Group has four sub-business brands, including Avenir Crypto, Avenir Capital, Avenir Innovation, and Avenir Foundation.
Avenir Crypto is the focus of Avenir Group, focusing on crypto asset management and innovation in quantitative trading strategies, providing professional institutional investors with stable growth opportunities.
Avenir Capital is our global multi-asset allocation platform, committed to establishing a risk-balanced multi-strategy investment system to achieve sustained stable and diversified growth, providing investors with an all-weather global asset allocation solution.
Avenir Innovation focuses on the fields of future technology and artificial intelligence, supporting technological changes through capital support, supporting visionary innovative companies and entrepreneurs, and becoming a capital pioneer in AI innovation.
As part of the family office, Avenir Foundation plays an important role in public welfare and charity. This family foundation was founded by Mr. Li Lin, dedicated to promoting educational innovation, talent cultivation and academic research globally, and has funded multiple education and research projects in Asia, with plans to expand these efforts globally.
Overall, Avenir Group is not just focused on crypto asset trading, but is a diversified family office with a wide range of multi-asset classes and multi-strategy investments. Investments cover traditional finance and crypto asset fields, including crypto asset trading, quantitative trading, public market investment, private equity and venture capital, etc.
BlockBeats: From a longer-term perspective, what is Avenir Group's vision?
Lan Jianzhong: The name Avenir means "a beautiful future" in French, which also represents our vision - to become a technology-driven global diversified investment platform, continuously innovating and promoting the progress of the financial industry, and using the power of technology and innovation to shape a better future.
The Future and Opportunities of Crypto Trading
BlockBeats: I understand, let's go back to the crypto industry. I know you have a deep understanding of the industry status in various mainstream crypto market regions, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, etc. How do you view the development of the crypto markets in these regions?
Lan Jianzhong: Recently, I have conducted inspections and compliance and market research in multiple countries and regions around the world, and found that different countries or regions have different attitudes and adoption levels towards crypto assets. Among them, the US and China are currently the two largest markets with the strictest regulations on crypto assets. In comparison, some developed markets such as Singapore and South Korea have a more friendly attitude towards the development of crypto trading, while some developing countries are even more flexible in regulating crypto assets, even accepting them as a new technology and asset class.
Although the global regulatory requirements for crypto assets are not uniform, we will definitely respect the regulations of each country and promise to actively comply with the laws and requirements of each region.
BlockBeats: In your opinion, what stage of the bull market is the crypto asset market in now? Because Bitcoin reached a new historical high after the ETF was approved this year, but the recent volatility has led to a general market sentiment. What indicators do you focus on to judge this trend?
Lan Jianzhong: Avenir Crypto has been tracking mainstream crypto assets, especially Bitcoin, in the long term, and has an internal research framework and system to assist in investment decision-making. Although its price has been quite volatile recently, we believe this is only a short-term impact of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, which is a normal phenomenon.
Crypto assets are highly correlated with US stocks, Nasdaq and US tech stocks, and are therefore easily affected by factors such as the US election, economic recession, and interest rate cut expectations. In addition, the growth of stablecoins and the degree of improvement of the global regulatory framework also have an impact on crypto assets. So we need to closely monitor all relevant indicators and do a good job in risk control and decision-making.
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