A subsidiary of cryptocurrency exchange Huobi, called HBIT Inc, has received its Money Services Business (MSB) licensefor its acronym in English) of the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Seychelles-based Huobi said on Tuesday that the license creates a foundation for conducting cryptocurrency-related business in the United States in the future, as part of its “globalization and compliance” strategic goals. The exchange is a major player, with more than $1 billion in volume in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.
Before the great crackdown on cryptocurrencies by the Chinese authorities, the majority of Huobi users came from China, but according to the latest figures from Statista, the majority of users in February 2022 came from Russia and Ukraine.
MSB license allows Huobi subsidiary to transmit money and operate as a fiat currency exchangea step required by US regulators to ensure that FinCEN can monitor financial crimes such as money laundering.
Nevertheless, the license does not allow you to provide cryptocurrency exchange services, as this would require a money transmitter license. The company says it hopes to provide US users with a compliant digital asset service in the future.
Huobi said that its subsidiaries in Hong Kong have also received asset management and securities advisory licenses from the country’s Securities and Futures Commission.
The subsidiaries are also in the process of applying for a license to provide automated trading and securities trading services. to become a fully compliant cryptocurrency exchange in Hong Kong.
Huobi has been on a licensing winning streak.
On June 21, the exchange obtained licenses in New Zealand and in the United Arab Emirates.. The latter was an innovation license that, although not a trading license, allows it to access the local technology industry and obtain special tax treatment.
At the time, Huobi Group CFO Lily Zhang told Cointelegraph that plans to receive its license to offer its full suite of cryptocurrency exchange services under Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).
Nevertheless, It hasn’t all been good news, as the exchange’s Thai license was revoked on June 16. after apparently failing to comply with local regulations. There’s also Rumors of major staff layoffs and that its founder may be thinking of leaving the business.
Hong Kong-based crypto reporter Colin Wu reported on June 28 that Hubi intended to lay off up to 30% of its staffwith a later update on Saturday reporting the rumors that the founder of Hubei, Li Lin, is looking to sell his 50% stake.
EXCLUSIVE: Huobi founder Li Lin is looking to sell his stake in Huobi. Li Lin currently holds more than 50% of the shares. The second largest shareholder of Huobi is Sequoia China. Huobi’s revenue plummeted after it wiped out all Chinese users and is laying off staff. https://t.co/67KOlW9aT9
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 1, 2022
EXCLUSIVE: Huobi founder Li Lin wants to sell his stake in Huobi. Li Lin currently owns more than 50% of the shares. Huobi’s second largest shareholder is Sequoia China. Huobi’s revenue plummeted after getting rid of all Chinese users and it is laying off staff.
According to reports, the exchange lost around 30% of its revenue, caused by the departure of its users located in China due to the country’s restrictions on crypto trading.
To date, Huobi has not publicly responded to the speculation.
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