Duan Yongping, a Chinese-American billionaire businessman, often nicknamed "China's Buffett," acquired 200,000 shares of stablecoin issuer Circle through his asset management firm H&H International Investment LLC. The average purchase price was $95.41 per share. The position was valued at approximately $19mn as of 31 Mar, according to H&H's 13F filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
China's Buffett Backs Circle Months After Ruling Out Stablecoin Bets
22 May 2026 - 08:56 CEST
By Oihyun Kim
A public reversal
Less than a year before the filing, Duan had publicly dismissed stablecoins. In a July 2025 post on Chinese investment platform Xueqiu, Duan acknowledged that stablecoins made some sense as a business model, noting that issuers earn interest on reserves, but said he had no interest in investing.
He has not explained what changed.
Duan's background
Duan founded BBK Electronics in 1995 in China, initially building it around consumer electronics, including VCD players and telephones. The conglomerate later expanded into mobile phones through subsidiaries including Vivo and OPPO, which grew into two of the world's largest smartphone brands.
He stepped back from operations in the early 2000s and relocated to the United States, shifting his focus to investing. His philosophy centres on a single rule: never buy what you do not understand.
His 13F portfolio is now worth roughly $20bn. Top holdings include Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Nvidia, PDD Holdings and Tesla. The Circle stake represents 0.1% of that total. The same filing shows that he reduced his holdings in Apple and TSMC, fully exited Alibaba and opened a new position in Tesla.
Bet on cash flow
Duan did not buy Bitcoin or Ether (ETH). Circle is his only direct exposure to the crypto industry among 19 disclosed holdings.
Circle generates revenue from the reserves backing USDC, its dollar-pegged stablecoin. That is the kind of cash-flow model Duan says he requires before investing.
USDC is the second-largest stablecoin by market cap at $77bn, according to CoinGecko, behind Tether's USDT which stands at $190bn. But Tether is privately held. Circle, which was listed on the NYSE in June 2025, has marketed USDC as a compliance-focused alternative that meets standards under both the US GENIUS Act, a federal stablecoin regulatory framework, and Europe's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.
H&H International Investment could not be reached for comment.
