According to reports on Twitter, the cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has laid off employees and ceased internal communication, prompting some members of the community to advise users to withdraw their funds. However, an exchange adviser has denied these rumors.
On January 5th, an adviser for Huobi, Tron’s Justin Sun, took to Twitter to address speculation about the exchange’s financial solvency. Sun stated that the exchange’s business development is in good shape and that the security of its users’ assets will not be compromised.
Tether Based Salaries
Sun also addressed rumors of disgruntled employees, saying that Huobi will “fully respect the legal demands of local employees.”
Colin Wu, a crypto journalist, reported on January 3rd that Huobi CEO Justin Sun had changed the way employee salaries were paid, shifting from fiat currency to Tether. Some employees who disagreed with the change, according to Wu, may have been laid off.
In December, Wu reported, citing sources, that Huobi had canceled year-end bonuses and planned to reduce its workforce by up to 50%, laying off up to 1,200 employees.
Huobi Revolt
According to Wu, some employees protested the decision to switch employee salaries from fiat currency to stablecoins.
On January 4th, a tweet from the Twitter account BitRun claimed that Huobi had shut down a “communication group with internal employees” and blocked “all communication and feedback channels with employees.”
BitRun also suggested that there was a possibility of a revolt by Huobi employees, who might “directly rug away user assets or programmers add backdoor Trojan horses.” They noted that this kind of action would not be protected by domestic laws.
Huobi is a Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed company with offices in Seychelles, Hong Kong, the United States, Japan, and South Korea. Following BitRun’s warning, some Twitter users speculated that Huobi was “melting down in real time,” while others advised users to withdraw their funds from the exchange in light of the rumors.
Huobi Token (HT) has lost nearly 7% of its value in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. Crypto publication Cointelegraph has reached out to Huobi for a comment on the situation but did not receive a response.
Image Courtesy of Shutterstock
