Hong Kong Finance KOL Huo Liaosen was secretly filmed by his pillow partner inside his luxury home, capturing the process of operating his cold wallet, and stole 2323 Bitcoins, worth about 160 million USD. The case has been transferred to the High Court of the United Kingdom, where the judge stated that the plaintiff has a very high chance of winning.
（Background summary: MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings have caught up with BlackRock! The gap is only 21,000 BTC, and it may overtake as early as next week）
（Additional background: 13 years ago, Bitcoin’s ancient whale transferred 1,000 BTC back to Binance, leaving only 30% of holdings）
If this story were made into a drama, it would definitely be a highly controversial family suspense thriller at the start of 2026—the protagonist is not an ordinary person but the well-known Hong Kong financial KOL Huo Liaosen, real name Yuan Binghui, once dubbed “Teen Stock God.”
He made his fortune early through stock trading and Bitcoin. His radio program “Spark Ignites” was hugely popular among Hong Kong residents, and he authored investment books like “I Borrowed My First Ten Million from Buffett.”
However, no one expected that his recent legal case would reveal the most sensational family drama.
Pillow partner secretly filmed to steal mnemonic and BTC
In 2023, Huo Liaosen’s divorce case reached the UK High Court. He accused his pillow partner, his estranged wife Li Huanyong, and her sister, of secretly installing hidden cameras in their Brighton mansion in the UK, recording his input of the cold wallet PIN and mnemonic, and directly transferring 2323 BTC.
This case was recently reported in Hong Kong’s Sing Tao Daily, Hong Kong Economic Journal, and in the UK by Daily Mail and The Times, sparking heated discussion among netizens in Hong Kong and surrounding areas.
The incident dates back to 2023. At that time, Huo Liaosen and Li Huanyong were in the midst of divorce proceedings. The trigger was surprisingly their eldest daughter, who privately told Huo Liaosen that her mother might be planning to get involved in Bitcoin.
Huo Liaosen became alert. Instead of confronting directly, he secretly installed recording devices at home to gather evidence.
According to court documents, the recordings captured conversations between Li Huanyong and her sister. Li Huanyong said: “The Bitcoin has already been transferred to me, but will anyone find out you took it?”
A more critical and accusatory conversation: “No problem, just take everything.”
They also discussed money laundering risks, using a second wallet, and whether the police were watching… These dialogues later became key evidence in court.
Huo Liaosen testified that Li Huanyong secretly installed hidden cameras in the mansion, specifically to record his operation of the Trezor cold wallet.
The cold wallet was offline, protected by a six-digit PIN, and secured with a 24-word mnemonic phrase. Once the mnemonic was obtained, anyone could restore the entire wallet on another device, and the funds could be transferred instantly.
Later, the 2323 BTC was indeed moved—transferred in batches to 71 different addresses, and has not moved since. Huo Liaosen was dissatisfied and confronted Li Huanyong, but ended up being arrested himself. He admitted to one count of actual bodily harm and two counts of common assault. Afterwards, he immediately reported to the police, accusing Li Huanyong of stealing the coins. In December, Li Huanyong was detained by UK police but was released on bail. During the search, they found 10 cold wallets, 5 sets of mnemonics, and several luxury watches, some confirmed to be Huo Liaosen’s property. However, the police stated there was no new evidence at the time, so no further investigation was conducted.
As of March 2026, the case has been officially transferred to the UK High Court for trial. Presiding Judge Cotter, after reviewing the transcript of the recordings, stated that the evidence held by the plaintiff was “devastating,” and directly expressed that the likelihood of winning was extremely high.
Given the extreme volatility of cryptocurrency prices, the judge especially approved a worldwide freeze order to ensure the value of the assets through early trial. Although the defendant Li Huanyong submitted an affidavit firmly denying knowledge of the asset transfer, the court allowed the civil proceedings to continue.
Huo Liaosen’s rise and controversy history
However, behind Huo Liaosen’s business success, there are also many negative controversies.
He graduated in 2003 from Hong Kong Polytechnic University with a degree in Accounting. Early in his career, he was a commentator on Hong Kong radio and financial magazines. Due to his accurate market predictions around the 2007-2008 financial crisis (such as bearish on the property market, bullish on gold/yen strategies), he gained fame and was dubbed “Teen Stock God.” He published several best-selling investment books, hosted financial programs, and accumulated initial capital through personal stock investments.
Later, he invested in Bitcoin, reaching a new level of wealth.
In his testimony at the UK High Court, Huo Liaosen claimed that he began大量購入 and holding Bitcoin from 2010 to 2013 (when prices were a few dollars to hundreds of dollars).
He still holds 2323 BTC, which, at $100,000 per BTC, would be worth $232.3 million. At the current price of around $70,000, it’s worth approximately $163 million.
However, between 2017 and 2018, some accused him of promoting virtual currency vending machine investments that lost money.
According to multiple media reports, Huo Liaosen heavily promoted a cryptocurrency called HE15 on his social platforms and seminars. Investors paid about HKD 20,000 to 30,000 to buy a “cloud mining machine.” The device did not need to be brought home; it was operated at a hosting center, generating virtual currency daily, which could be exchanged for BTC or ETH on Huo Liaosen’s affiliated trading platform.
Starting mid-2018, the price of HE15 plummeted sharply, and exchange channels were blocked. Investors found they could not withdraw assets or the value nearly zeroed out. Some even discovered that the so-called “high-performance mining machines” had very low hardware specifications and were sold at prices far above market value.
In early 2019, over 100 victims sought help from the Hong Kong Democratic Party and reported to the police, with the total involved amount estimated at over HKD 20 million.
In April 2019, the Hong Kong Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) took action, arresting several personnel related to the company for “conspiracy to defraud.”
Huo Liaosen was reportedly a key opinion leader (KOL) for that project but later moved to the UK.
