Teenage Stock Prodigy's Family Drama Turns Bizarre: Huo Liaosen's 1.6 Billion USD in BTC Wiped Out by Spouse

Original Author: Ma He, Foresight News

If this story were adapted into a drama, it would undoubtedly be a highly controversial, sensational family suspense thriller to kick off 2026—the protagonist is no ordinary person, but the once Hong Kong household-name financial KOL, Fire Liao Sen (real name Yuan Binghui), who was once dubbed the "Stock Prodigy".

He made his fortune early on through stock trading and Bitcoin. His radio program "Spark to Prairie Fire" was once highly sought after by countless Hong Kong residents, and he also published an investment book titled "I Borrowed My First Ten Million from Warren Buffett".

However, no one could have anticipated that the recent court case would erupt into the most sensational family drama.

Spouse Uses Hidden Camera to Steal Seed Phrase and Steal BTC

In 2023, Fire Liao Sen's divorce case reached the UK High Court. He accused his spouse, Li Huanrong, with whom he was in the process of separating, of conspiring with her sister to secretly install hidden cameras in their Brighton, UK mansion. The cameras allegedly recorded the entire process of him entering his cold wallet PIN and storing his seed phrase, leading to the direct transfer of 2,323 BTC.

The case recently sparked heated discussions among netizens in Hong Kong and other regions after being reported by Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily, Hong Kong Economic Times, and the UK's Daily Mail and The Times.

The incident dates back to 2023. At that time, Fire Liao Sen and Li Huanrong were going through a divorce. In early July, the trigger turned out to be their eldest daughter. She privately told Fire Liao Sen that her mother might be plotting something regarding the Bitcoin.

Fire Liao Sen immediately became alert. Instead of confronting her directly, he secretly installed recording devices at home to gather evidence.

According to court documents, the conversations between Li Huanrong and her sister were recorded verbatim. Li Huanrong said: "The Bitcoin has been transferred to me, but will it be discovered that you took it?"

A more crucial and accusatory dialogue followed: "It's fine, take it all."

They also discussed money laundering risks, using a second wallet, and whether the police would be onto them... These conversations later became key evidence in court.

In his testimony submitted to the court, Fire Liao Sen explicitly stated that Li Huanrong secretly installed hidden cameras in the mansion specifically to film him operating his Trezor cold wallet.

The cold wallet was not connected to the internet and was protected by a 6-digit PIN code, with its core being a 24-word seed phrase. Anyone who obtained the seed phrase could restore the entire wallet on another device, instantly transferring ownership of the funds.

Later, the 2,323 BTC indeed moved—transferred in batches to 71 different addresses and remaining untouched ever since. Dissatisfied, Fire Liao Sen directly confronted Li Huanrong, but ended up being arrested himself. He pleaded guilty to one count of actual bodily harm and two counts of common assault. He subsequently reported the incident to the police, accusing Li Huanrong of stealing the cryptocurrency. In December, Li Huanrong was arrested by UK police and released on bail. During the search, police found 10 cold wallets, 5 sets of seed phrases, and several luxury watches on her premises, some of which were confirmed to be Fire Liao Sen's property. However, the police stated at the time that there was no new evidence and did not pursue the matter further.

As of March 2026, the case has been formally transferred to the UK High Court for trial. Presiding Judge Cotter, after reviewing the transcript of the recordings, noted that the evidence held by the plaintiff was "devastating" and stated outright that his chances of winning were extremely high. Given the characteristic of extreme price volatility in cryptocurrencies, the judge specifically approved a worldwide freezing order, aiming to preserve the value of the related assets through an early trial. Although the defendant, Li Huanrong, has firmly denied any knowledge of the asset transfers by submitting an affidavit, the court has ruled to allow the civil proceedings to continue.

Fire Liao Sen's Rise and History of Controversy

However, behind Fire Liao Sen's career achievements lie numerous negative controversies.

He graduated from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University's Department of Accountancy in 2003. Early in his career, he worked as a commentator for Hong Kong Radio and financial magazines. He gained fame for his accurate market predictions around the 2007-2008 financial crisis (such as strategies like bearish on property, bullish on gold/Japanese Yen), earning him the title "Stock Prodigy". He completed his initial capital accumulation through publishing multiple best-selling investment books, hosting financial programs, and personal stock investments.

Subsequently, his investment in Bitcoin elevated his wealth to a new level.

In his testimony to the UK High Court, Fire Liao Sen claimed that he began purchasing and holding Bitcoin in large quantities as early as between 2010 and 2013 (when Bitcoin was priced from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars).

Holding onto the 2,323 Bitcoin until now, its value would be approximately $232.3 million if calculated at $100,000 per coin. At the current price of around $70,000, it's worth about $163 million.

However, between 2017-2018, there were complaints from people who lost money investing in virtual currency vending machines he promoted.

According to reports from multiple media outlets, Fire Liao Sen heavily promoted a cryptocurrency called HE15 on his social media platforms and in seminars. Investors were required to pay approximately HK$20,000 to HK$30,000 to purchase a so-called "cloud mining machine". This machine did not need to be taken home; it was operated by a hosting center, generating virtual currency daily, which could be exchanged for BTC or ETH on a trading platform associated with Fire Liao Sen.

Starting mid-2018, the price of HE15 plummeted, and the exchange channels became blocked. Investors found they could not withdraw their assets or that their value had almost vanished. Some investors even discovered that the so-called "high-performance mining machines" actually had extremely low hardware specifications, with prices far exceeding their market value.

In early 2019, over 100 victims sought help from the Hong Kong Democratic Party and reported to the police, with the total estimated amount involved exceeding HK$20 million.

In April 2019, the Hong Kong Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) took action, arresting several individuals associated with the related companies on suspicion of "conspiracy to defraud".

Fire Liao Sen was identified as the KOL for this project at the time, but he subsequently relocated to the UK.