Huobi Founder Li Lin Recently Sold The Holme in London's Regent's Park for Approximately £190 Million

According to the Financial Times, Huobi founder Li Lin recently sold The Holme, a residence in London's Regent's Park, for approximately £190 million. He purchased it in 2024 for about £139 million through a receivership process, holding it for nearly two years, resulting in a paper profit of around £51 million. Bloomberg reported a transaction of about £195 million, with a premium of approximately £56 million. The property was not publicly listed, and contracts have been exchanged.

This Georgian-style residence has around 40 bedrooms and a private garden of about four acres, leased long-term from the Crown Estate, near the U.S. ambassador's residence, covering approximately 29,000 square feet. It was listed for about £250 million in March 2023. The previous owners were Saudi Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Sultan al-Saud and his family; there was an unpaid loan of about £150 million to £160 million, leading to receivership, and it was sold in December 2024 for about £138.9 million, approximately £110 million less than the asking price. Land registry shows the buyer as a UK subsidiary of Luxembourg wealth service provider Zedra, with the actual controller not appearing in public records at the time.

The new buyer is reported to be 26-year-old UAE real estate developer Abbas Sajwani, whose father Hussain Sajwani heads DAMAC, with an estimated net worth of $15.3 billion and real estate dealings with Trump. Abbas claims to be the world's youngest billionaire in real estate, and his AHS Properties also purchased the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai for about $300 million around the same time. Reports indicate he completed the acquisition through Zedra Trust Company (UK) and Deutsche Bank's Luxembourg branch with a mortgage. The stamp duty is estimated at about £26.5 million for non-primary residences. Sotheby's International Realty participated in this transaction but declined to comment publicly.

The ultra-high-end transaction benchmark in London is above this. Nick Candy sold Chelsea's Providence House for over £275 million to Quadrature Capital founder Suneil Setiya, still the highest residential price in recent years. Li Lin founded Huobi in 2013 and sold shares in 2022; his family office, Avenir Group, is headquartered in Hong Kong, primarily investing in digital assets and described as one of Asia's largest Bitcoin ETF holders. He is also the largest shareholder of the crypto wealth management group Bitfire Group, holding about 30%. The family office declined to comment.

The UK established overseas entity registration after 2022 to reduce anonymous ownership. Trust and company service structures still keep individuals off the land registry. Li Lin's ownership structure was not directly reflected in public records over the past two years until this sale was made public.

The market mechanism is the exit and takeover of ultra-high-end London residences. The seller liquidates a discounted receivership property in pounds after the crypto cycle; the buyer is a Gulf real estate family moving capital into long-term royal estate rentals with gated communities. Funds flow from crypto liquidation and family offices into UK stamp duty and custodial structures, then into the next layer of trusts. Beneficiaries are brokers and trust companies that can facilitate transactions of properties over £100 million; those under pressure are regulatory agencies pursuing actual controllers under transparency legislation and transaction structures that bear high stamp duties for non-resident buyers. The event driver is the seller's identity being revealed, rather than a new listing.

From the Saudi royal family to crypto founders to the son of a Dubai developer, the same roof has changed capital sources three times in two years. The crown lease remains unchanged, and the names on the registry continue to bypass individuals.

Source: Public Information