China's Huiyin Group Launches $20 Million Bitcoin Fund

Corin Faife (@corintxt) | Published on December 1, 2016 at 13:10 GMT

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Huiyin Group, a multibillion-dollar investment company based in China, has announced the launch of Huiyin Blockchain Ventures (HBV), a subsidiary fund focused solely on investments in the sector.

Launching with $20m in committed capital, HBV will now seek to invest the funds over the course of the next six to 12 months. The fund will be managed by James Wo, the son of Huiyin Group founder, and focus on improving the blockchain ecosystem through investments in infrastructural projects and new use cases.

But while the firm may have "blockchain" in its name, those close to the fund suggested the firm is unlikely to invest in enterprise or so-called alternative blockchain projects.

Wo indicated that the fund will have a special focus on projects building on or otherwise supporting the bitcoin blockchain.

Wo said in a statement:

"We are seeking to invest into bitcoin-related companies to help enrich the industry, as we see a large opportunity for a return on our investment. As the bitcoin industry continually matures, the use of bitcoin will continue to grow and proliferate in China, as well as the rest of the world. HBV intends to be at the forefront of this technology as it continues to gain traction globally."

The firm has already started investing through their fund, backing Indian bitcoin brokerage Unocoin, content monetization platform Yours and Purse.io, a bitcoin-powered e-commerce marketplace.

Purse CEO Andrew Lee will also serve as an advisor to the fund.

Family business

For Huiyin Group, HBV's parent fund, the announcement follows its more recent move into the technology sector. (Huiyin Group is a family-owned investment group that has focused on traditional industries like real estate, energy and agriculture).

But in the past few years, Wo and his father have taken a personal interest in bitcoin, which ultimately led to the creation of the new fund.

Speaking about the family, Lee said:

"Out of all the investors I've spoken to [in China], they have a deeper commitment to bitcoin than anyone else, and probably the best economic and political ties to the Chinese economic machine to really further the bitcoin ecosystem."

Lee also hinted at much larger investment announcements in the bitcoin ecosystem to be revealed in the coming months.

China money image via Shutterstock