China’s Biggest Crypto Exchange Picks Singapore as Asia Base

Huobi Group, one of the largest China's cryptocurrency companies, has chosen Singapore as its Asian headquarters while opting for a different place for a new office in Europe, according to Du Jun, co-founder of the company.

As Du stated, the firm has relocated its HQ to Singapore after lately shifting its focus away from its roots in Beijing. Since his return to Huobi a year ago, he has been stationed in the city-state. According to him, the company intends to open a new regional office in either France or the United Kingdom in the next two years.

While Huobi has been conducting exchange operations outside of Singapore for years, the opening of its office in the city-state marks a further break up with its homeland, which prohibited all crypto transactions and services in September.

Southeast Asia is an appealing market, with the number of trade users quadrupling in the last month.

Huobi International Pte., established in Singapore in August, considers Li Lin, another founder of the Chinese business, to be the biggest stakeholder, as the Singapore Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s data illustrates. The other two shareholders are Atlas Value Ltd. and Zhen Partners Fund I, L.P., as the docs suggest.

Singapore has established itself as a frontrunner in cryptocurrency implementation, attracting both crypto and fintech enterprises, as Ulisse Dellorto, Asia-Pacific managing director of research firm Chainalysis, stated.

Huobi Technology Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary registered in Hong Kong, has also created a different company called Huobi Singapore, which seeks a license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Crypto.com, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, relocated its offices from Hong Kong to the city-state this year.

Huobi, launched in 2013, is the third biggest cryptocurrency exchange platform worldwide, as CoinMarketCap’s statistics show, with a daily transactions volume of USD 560 million.