Huobi is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange platform for buying, selling, staking, and borrowing cryptocurrencies. Huobi Global is one of the top ten largest cryptocurrency trading exchanges in the world, in terms of trading volume. ^[16][1]

Overview

Huobi's evolution extends beyond a cryptocurrency exchange, encompassing a diverse ecosystem of blockchain covering digital asset trading, financial derivatives, wallet services, research, investments, incubation, and more.^[19] Guided by three core strategies – global expansion, technology-led growth, and technology for positive impact – Huobi remains dedicated to delivering comprehensive solutions and benefits to the worldwide community of cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Huobi has a very strong presence in the Asian markets and was originally based in China. After increasing regulatory crackdowns, Huobi relocated to the Republic of Seychelles. Huobi has physical locations in South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and even opened an office in the United States in 2018 but had to close due to regulatory reasons.^[17]

History

Huobi was founded in 2013 by Leon Li and Du Jun. Before Huobi, Li was a computer engineer at Oracle, while Jun founded two highly successful companies: Golden Finance, and Node Capital.^[1]

On May 15, 2013, the Huobi Group (火币集团) acquired the huobi.com domain. On August 1, Huobi launched a simulation trading platform, and on September 1 the Bitcoin trading platform launched.^[2]

In November 2013, Huobi received angel investors from Dai Zhikang and Zhen Fund. In 2014, Huobi raised a $10 million venture capital investment from Sequoia Capital. In August 2014, Huobi acquired Bitcoin wallet provider Quick Wallet. ^[3]

In December 2013, trading volume exceeded 30 billion yuan, making Huobi China's largest digital asset trading platform at the time. In June 2016, its total transaction volume reached 1 trillion RMB, and in November 2016 1.7 trillion yuan, accounting for more than 60% of the global bitcoin exchange market.^[2]

On December 22, 2016, its daily transaction volume surpassed 200 billion yuan. In September 2017, China banned bitcoin exchanges and ICOs. In response, Huobi adjusted its business and organizational structure to promote global expansion. In October 2017, Huobi officially expanded into Korea with a new headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, and opened trading in March 2018. ^[3]

In November 2017, it launched operations in Singapore with total volume in the first month exceeding 30 billion RMB. In December 2017, it launched an office in Tokyo, Japan and announced that it would set up two crypto exchanges in Japan in early 2018, through a partnership with Japanese financial group SBI Group. ^[4]

In August 2018, in a reverse takeover, Huobi acquired a 74% stake in Hong Kong electronics manufacturer Pantronics Holdings, becoming listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. ^[4]

In 2019, a report from Bitwise Asset Management alleged that Huobi Global engaged in wash trading, a practice that artificially inflates reported trading volumes. In response, Huobi denied these allegations and announced efforts to combat wash trading on its platform. Following this, there was a noticeable decrease in reported trading volumes. ^[5][6]

Facing regulatory challenges, Huobi Global's U.S. subsidiary, HBUS, ceased its operations by the end of 2019. However, in 2022, Huobi Technologies' brokerage subsidiary, HBIT, obtained a license to conduct foreign exchange and money transfer operations across the U.S., a step along the way for it to offer cryptocurrency transactions. Additionally, regulatory considerations led Huobi to include Singapore in its list of restricted jurisdictions in 2021. More recently, the company declared the closure of its Beijing-based entity and communicated to remaining users in mainland China that their accounts would be terminated by the conclusion of 2021. ^[7][8]

In August 2023, the company faced rumors regarding a decrease in its stablecoin reserves, as it was shown to have $64 million in outflows, along with unverified claims of an investigation of Huobi executives by Chinese authorities. Nonetheless, Huobi dismissed the rumors against its insolvency. ^[22][23]

Technology

Huobi Eco Chain

Huobi ECO Chain, also known as Heco, is a public blockchain that launched on December 21, 2020. It is recognized for its high performance, low gas fees, and improved cross-chain user experience. The endogenous token of Heco is HT and it adopts the HPoS consensus mechanism. Heco is divided into 4 phases: Tinder, Spark, Flame, Blaze. ^[9]

Tinder

In December 2020, Heco launched its Tinder phase, with a stable and user-friendly system. This allowed developers to create and promote Dapps at a low cost, while users could easily engage with these Dapps on Heco. ^[10][11]

Spark

In October 2021, with the Spark phase, Heco's protocol underwent further optimization. The focus was on connecting Centralized Finance (CeFi) and Decentralized Finance (DeFi), making DeFi applications more accessible to a wider range of users. ^[12]

Flame

Flame introduces Layer2 technology to Heco. This is planned to boost the platform's performance and scalability while retaining the benefits of decentralization. ^[12]

Blaze

The Blaze phase involves the integration of large-scale commercial applications onto Heco. This support allows various traditional businesses to operate smoothly on the blockchain. ^[12]

Huobi Mars Program

Huobi Mars Program is a series of campaigns related to space exploration. Its first phase offers a $6 million ticket for a trip to Mars with Justin Sun, a member of the Huobi Advisory Board, on a space journey aboard Blue Origin’s ship New Shepard. Users have to have a registered Tron chain address in order to participate in the event. ^[20][21]

Huobi Token

The HT Token provides users benefits such as discounts on trading fees, access to new cryptocurrencies, and participation in platform-related decision-making processes. The token operates within the Huobi Eco Chain ecosystem, which supports decentralized finance (DeFi) applications such as platforms for lending and borrowing without central control. ^[14]

Huobi has generated 500 million Huobi tokens, allocating 60% to exchange members, especially those who bought packages, and reserving 40% in Huobi's custody. Among the reserved tokens, fifty percent will serve as rewards for dedicated users, while the remaining fifty percent is designated for incentivizing Huobi team members. ^[15]

Huobi employs a deflationary strategy for the HT token supply. Fifteen percent of profits are directed towards token burning, while an additional 5% is allocated for repurchasing and burning the team's tokens. ^[15]

HUSD Stablecoin

HUSD is a fiat-collateralized stablecoin launched by Huobi. HUSD tokens are created as ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. Each HUSD token is backed by an equivalent amount of USD, held in bank accounts owned by Paxos. The collateralization ratio is 1:1. ^[13]

HUSD was initially launched in October 2018 on Huobi Global exchange as a stablecoin solution. The concept aimed to combine four stablecoins (Paxos Standard, True USD, USD Coin, and Gemini Dollars) into one token called HUSD. This HUSD token was intended to be traded within the Huobi exchange. Users could deposit and withdraw any of the four stablecoins, which would reflect as an HUSD balance. ^[13]

However, it was observed that traders were not comfortable using HUSD due to its unclear pricing. Additionally, in light of concerns related to Tether, Huobi sought to create a stablecoin that was separate from its exchange. As a result, in July 2019, Stable Universal, a startup backed by Huobi Capital, introduced a new version of HUSD as an ERC-20 stablecoin, utilizing Paxos as a custody partner. Huobi subsequently transitioned from its previous HUSD to this new ERC-20 version provided by Stable Universal. ^[13]

Milestones

2013

In September, Huobi.com was launched. In November, Huobi raised investment from ZhenFund and Angel Investment. In December, Huobi became China's largest digital asset trading platform with a cumulative turnover of over 30 billion RMB. ^[4]

2014

In April, Huobi became the world's largest digital asset trading platform with a cumulative turnover of over 120 billion RMB. ^[1]

2015

In April, Huobi sponsored the "Digital Asset Research Project" at the Internet Finance Laboratory of Wudaokou Finance Institute of Tsinghua University (formerly the Graduate School of the People's Bank of China). ^[2]

2016

In June, the cumulative turnover reached 1 trillion RMB. In July, Huobi Research published the first easy-to-understand and science-based work "Blockchain: Defining a New Financial and Economic Future". In November, the Cumulative turnover of Huobi Group had reached 1.7 trillion RMB, accounting for more than 50% of the global bitcoin exchange market. In December, Huobi co-sponsored China's first Fintech Digital Asset Alliance (Shenzhen) and the Fintech Research Institute under the guidance of the Shenzhen Municipal Government. In December, the Cumulative turnover of Huobi Group reached 2 trillion RMB. ^[2]

2017

In July, the Cumulative turnover of Huobi Group reached 4 trillion RMB; in October, Huobi initiated its global strategic layout by establishing the Huobi Korea Team and putting it into official operation; in November, Huobi Global was officially launched and started operation with a cumulative turnover of the first month exceeding 4.6 billion USD. The Singapore Operation Team was also established in December, Huobi completed its business layout in Japan with the Group's cumulative turnover exceeding 850 billion USD.

2018

In January, Huobi Token was launched. In February, Huobi Autonomous Digital Asset Exchange (HADAX) was established to support a vote for listing. In March, Huobi signed a cooperation agreement with 360 Group on financial technology security services.

In March, Huobi signed a cooperation agreement with the Data Science Institute of Imperial College London on the research of digital currency trading data. In March, Huobi signed a cooperation agreement with Blockchain Global on co-building Huobi Australia with strategic investment. In April, the Cumulative turnover of the Group exceeded 1 trillion USD.

In July, Huobi Cloud was officially launched. In August, the Group acquired Pantronics Holdings Ltd (01611.HK), a Hong Kong-based listed company. In August, the cumulative turnover of the Group exceeded 1.2 trillion USD. In September, the Group acquired BitTrade, a licensed exchange based in Japan. ^[2]

2020

In September, Huobi launched crypto-saving products to compete with DeFi yield farming. Users receive an annual yield of 8% and 3.5%, respectively, for their deposited USDT and Bitcoin. ^[18]

2023

In August, Huobi announced a strategic partnership with TradingView. Users will be able to directly view the real-time prices of cryptocurrencies on Huobi with TradingView. It also allows them to create accounts and trade on Huobi without having to switch between platforms.

Team Members

• Chairman and Co-Founder: Leon Li
• Co-founder, CEO of New Huo Tech: Du Jun
• COO: Jiawei Zhu
• CTO: Xianfeng Cheng
• CFO: Chris Lee
• CSO: Simon Wu
• CHO: Bessie Pang
• Advisor: Justin Sun