After shifting out of Beijing, China’s largest crypto exchange, Huobi Group has now selected Singapore as its regional headquarters.
Huobi Leaves Beijing
Huobi Group is the operating company behind the crypto exchange. However, following the strict crypto crackdown in China, the exchange had to shut down operations and shift base to Singapore. The information was revealed by company co-founder Du Jun, who has been based out of Singapore since last year. Furthermore, he also revealed that the firm will be selected a European base by 2023 as well, either in France or in the UK.
Singapore Now Official Base
Huobi employees have been working from Singapore for many years now. However, the decision to establish the official headquarters in the city-state was informed by the strict anti-crypto measures adopted by the Chinese government. Earlier this year, the government had imposed nationwide bans on crypto mining activities. Despite the bans, most crypto exchanges, including Huobi, were hopeful that they would be able to figure out a workaround to continue operating in the country. However, the final nail in China’s crypto coffin happened when the People’s Republic Bank of China announced a blanket ban on all crypto transactions and services in September.
Following the ban announcement, Huobi had to shut down its futures and derivatives trading in China. Huobi had already stopped allowing any new registrations in China and said that it would remove all existing Chinese users of the platform by the end of the year. The firm had decided to abandon the Chinese market and instead focus on global expansion, as evident from their decision to establish a European base. This means that the firm will be closing all its China-based operations by the end of the year.
Founders Still Have Faith In Southeast Asian Market
Du Jun believes that despite the crackdown in China, Southeast Asia continues to be an attractive market where the number of trading users has quadrupled in the last month. Huobi Technology Holdings, an affiliated entity listed in Hong Kong, also set up another firm known as Huobi Singapore, which is seeking a license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Meanwhile, all the companies founders have created a new Chinese entity on November 15, listed as Beijing Chiyu Mushou, in the Beijing government’s company registry,
Huobi founder and CEO Leon Li have a controlling 58% share in the company, whereas Du Jun holds 15%. According to a spokesperson, the new entity is not related in any way to Huobi and is entirely a “personal matter of the shareholders.”
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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