Singapore based exchange conglomerate Huobi Group is prioritizing wall street partnerships for the first time in its history.
In its 6 year history, Huobi Group, has been dominant over other crypto exchanges moreso because of its popularity among rich chinese traders. This is evident with Huobi Group’s reported $1 trillion in accumulative turnover or annual net sales.
Huobi Group’s American sister company HBUS, which is a separate entity located in the United States and funded by Huobi Global CEO, Leon LI, plans to leverage on Huobi’s global network and worldwide appeal by making big moves in North America. HBUS wants to get the momentum going by sealing a partnership with prime trust- based in Nevada- that will enable fiat deposit and withdrwal services for its exchange users.
The deal will see Huobi.com allow USD to crypto trading for Ethereum, Bitcoin, and the dollar pegged stablecoin tether, with a $100 minimum.
Prime Trust CEO Scott Purcell reveled in the partnership stating that Huobi’s launch is very exciting,” “They are a great company and we are thrilled to work with them.” He added.
HBUS CEO Frank Fu on the other hand had this to say about the partnership;
“Once we establish partnerships with our institutional clients and put in place the required regulatory and compliance structure, we should be able to offer innovative products and financial services to larger audiences, such as potential ETFs and derivatives.”
Even if these partnerships don’t work out, HBUS could still benefit from a diversity of crypto options with fiat liquidity being a game changer for HBUS. HBUS is considering adding more crypto-currencies such as Litecoin, Ethereum, Ethereum classic, Bitcoin cash and Tether. Speaking of this HBUS’s chief compliance officer, Monroe Coleman said;
“We developed a comprehensive due-diligence process to review new token projects. … We’re really excited to increase both the volume of tokens and the uniqueness of those assets.”
He further added that the company was thoroughly scrutinizing the process to ensure that no token could possibly be classified as a security under US securities laws.
HBUS’s CEO Frank Fu told crypto publication, Coindesk, that his company could just be the distribution channel that will connect the East and West. Fu added that;
“A lot of the U.S. financial products and services are highly regarded, so we want to be able to be able to offer those products and services to our investors globally as we’re able to set up the right compliance processes.”
Huobi’s new asset flows could potentially give Chinese traders the ability to convert the Chinese yuan into crypto-currency through Huobi Global’s OTC desk, then send the crypto to HBUS in order to cash out in USD. This will definately give reprieve to institutional companies that seek to go around China’s stringent crypto exchange restrictions, since according to Lester Li, Huobi’s head of London Operations, 50 to 200 of global exchange platform’s institutional clients are run by chinese founders but based abroad inorder to avoid China’s stringent compliance standards.
Canadian attorney Christine Duhaime, who specializes in anti-money laundering law and blockchain technologies sees the loophole that HBUS could open up, and told Coindesk;
“If you’re a company trying to take out bitcoin, you can take out no amount without getting permission from the government.”
HBUS plans to seal this loophole by tripling its employee count this year to 150 with an emphasis on compliance, while also setting up teams that will look into institutional partnerships.
The moves by HBUS reveal Huobi’s foray into the west from the East and also underline the kind of clout Asia has in global crypto markets and infrastructure. You are likely to see Huobi make forays into new territories soon enough
