A Chinese crypto investor sold one of London’s most expensive home deals, flipping a Regent’s Park mansion for a £51m profit. Leon Li, founder of cryptocurrency exchange Huobi, purchased The Holme for £139mn in 2024 and recently sold it for about £190mn. Li’s ownership remained hidden for nearly two years despite UK transparency laws.

The property, located near the US ambassador’s residence, was registered to a UK subsidiary of Zedra, a corporate service firm that runs trusts. Li, a former Oracle coder, founded Huobi in China in 2013 before selling his stake in 2022 following Beijing’s crypto crackdown. This summer, Huobi was sanctioned by the UK and EU for supporting Russia’s financial sector.

Li’s family office, Avenir Group based in Hong Kong, focuses on digital assets. In April, Bitfire Group, where Li holds a 30% stake, agreed to buy Avenir’s trading systems for $1.6mn. The latest buyer’s father, Hussain Sajwani, is an Emirati billionaire and longtime business partner of Donald Trump.

Companies House filings show the mortgage was taken out by Zedra’s UK subsidiary from Deutsche Bank’s Luxembourg branch.