Shares of Hong Kong-listed BITFIRE GROUP (HK:01611) surged more than 22% on April 20, capturing significant market attention. The stock closed the session with a gain of 17.87%. A primary catalyst for the sharp price increase was the official appointment of renowned economist Fu Peng, the former Chief Economist of Northeast Securities Co.,Ltd., to the company. Mr. Fu will be responsible for macroeconomic research and the development of an institutional-grade investment strategy framework, providing his expertise and support.
BITFIRE GROUP, originally named "BITFIRE Technology Holdings," changed its name to "BITFIRE GROUP" on March 27 this year. The company was previously a top-performing stock in 2025. In the first half of last year, its share price fluctuated below HK$2. However, it experienced a sudden surge from late June and early July, reaching a peak of HK$8.17 by August 14. This represented a cumulative increase of 353% in less than three months.
The dramatic rise in BITFIRE GROUP's share price last year was largely driven by market focus on the "stablecoin" concept. In late June, the company announced a private placement plan raising approximately HK$276 million. Notably, among the five subscribers, LINEX Holdings Ltd. invested over HK$124 million to subscribe to 75.17 million shares. Upon completion of the placement, LINEX would hold a 10% stake in BITFIRE Technology Holdings, becoming the largest subscriber in this round. The ultimate controller of LINEX Holdings Ltd. is Weng Xiaoqi. Mr. Weng joined HashKey Group in 2023, serving as Chief Operating Officer and the inaugural CEO of HashKey Exchange. Under his leadership, HashKey pioneered the "compliance era" in Hong Kong's digital asset industry. He left HashKey for personal reasons at the end of 2024. Previously, he served as CEO of Huobi Global from 2018 to 2021. This private placement also positioned BITFIRE GROUP as a focal company in the virtual asset sector.
Following the surge, the company's stock price experienced a significant correction in the third and fourth quarters of last year. Since the beginning of this year, it has been fluctuating around the HK$2 level, essentially returning to its starting point.
According to the company's annual report for the 12-month period ended September 30, 2025, total revenue reached HK$8.66 billion, a year-on-year increase of 451.8%. However, gross profit was HK$47.6 million, representing only a slight increase of 7.7%, indicating a trend of increased revenue without corresponding profit growth. Furthermore, the company reported a net loss of approximately HK$9.7 million for 2025, compared to a profit in 2024.
The appointment of Fu Peng, a highly prominent "influencer economist," has generated a strong market reaction. Public information shows that Mr. Fu has a background in International Capital Markets from the University of Reading in the UK and has held positions at top-tier international institutions such as Lehman Brothers and Salomon Brothers International Investments. After returning to China in 2008, he served as Chief Macro Strategist at Mid-term Group and Deputy Director of the Galaxy Futures Research Center. In 2020, he assumed the role of Chief Economist at Northeast Securities Co.,Ltd., establishing significant influence in the fields of macro strategy and asset allocation. His personal social media accounts, collectively known as "Fu Peng's Financial World," boast millions of followers on platforms like Weibo and Xiaohongshu, earning him recognition as an "influencer economist" within the industry.
In recent years, due to his high profile and influence, Mr. Fu's personal views have sometimes sparked controversy within the industry. In April 2025, he resigned from Northeast Securities Co.,Ltd. for health reasons, stepping down from all positions. Mr. Fu stated at the time that he had just undergone two major surgeries and was required by doctors to rest for more than six months.
On April 14, he published an article on his WeChat public account discussing his investment perspectives in the era of AI Trading Agents. Mr. Fu mentioned that before the Spring Festival this year, conversations with industry veterans centered on a frontier consensus within financial circles: whether the AI era will bring transformative changes to finance, particularly in FICC (Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities) asset trading. He reflected on the impact of technological advancements in the 1980s, noting that the expansion of computing and quantitative capabilities via computers laid a technical foundation for cross-asset modeling. He identified three fundamental changes from that period: transaction speeds shortening from minutes to seconds, spurring the first generation of programmatic trading; an exponential increase in information processing power driving explosive growth in financial derivatives; and institutions gradually building trading advantages through hardware and algorithms. In his view, today's AI Trading Agents are essentially following the path blazed by computers in programmatic trading, but with potential geometric leaps in scale and speed. However, he argued that AI assistance can only lead to an equalization of efficiency and is difficult to translate into sustained, unique excess returns. Those at the top level who provide methodology, construct comprehensive frameworks, incorporate philosophical thinking, and make final trading decisions are less likely to be replaced by AI. The ultimate direction for many practitioners, he suggested, is the integration of personal experience with AI technology. These recently published views align with the business focus of his new employer, BITFIRE GROUP.
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