Crypto Exchange Huobi Global to Move Spot Trading Services to Gibraltar

Huobi Global will move its spot trading services to Gibraltar, after receiving a license from the local Financial Services Commission (FSC), the exchange said in a press release shared with CoinDesk.

• The China-born crypto exchange is likely looking for a new home away from Chinese regulators. The exchange had already moved significant portions of its operations to Singapore when Chinese regulators launched a renewed crackdown on crypto trading on Sept. 24, CoinDesk reported. It later announced it would expel its Chinese users.

• The exchange will be migrating its existing spot trading users, tech infrastructure, and cloud hosting to a licensed entity in Gibraltar, a Huobi spokesperson told CoinDesk via email.

• But Huobi currently has “no plans to move the majority of its operations” to the city and might add staff to Gibraltar operations “depending on how the [user] migration goes,” the spokesperson said.

• Huobi will serve global customers from its Gibraltar base, the spokesperson said. The company claims to be pursuing a “decentralized” global structure with no particular headquarters.

• A Huobi subsidiary, Huobi Technology (Gibraltar) Co. Ltd., received a distributed ledger technology license (DLT) from the local FSC, which allows the company to use DLT technology to store or transmit value belonging to others, the press release said.

• In addition to these services, Huobi Gibraltar is also allowed to “operate a secondary market venue for trading virtual assets” and provide brokerage services, according to the FSC registry.

• This is the first time Huobi Global will move its spot trading services to a regulated entity, the press release said. The exchange believes that operating under a licensed entity will appeal to institutional investors, according to the presser.

• The Gibraltar entity was previously a crypto brokerage for institutional investors and high net worth individuals, as well ass over-the-counter trading services to retail users, according to the press release. It was incorporated in 2017, according to the FSC registry.

• Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located at the southernmost tip of the Iberian peninsula, where Spain and Portugal are located.

• 30% of the exchange’s revenue comes from China, Huobi co-founder Du Jun told the Financial Times on Monday.