Huobi Korea May Sever Ties with Global Brand, Plans to Go Independent

The Huobi crypto exchange expanded into the South Korean market back in 2017. With its country headquarters located in Seoul.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 10 January 2023 14:28 IST

Photo Credit: Facebook/ Huobi Global

Huobi Korea began offering crypto trading services in South Korea in 2018

Highlights

Huobi Korea may be trying to safeguard its business
Huobi Global could be facing the market turmoil
Huobi Global holds most of its reserves in native HT token

The ongoing crypto winter stumped the life out of several businesses operational in the industry, including Huobi exchange. Based in the Seychelles, the Huobi crypto exchange is undergoing the impacts of the rough market momentum. Amid the circumstances, the South Korean unit of Huobi is exploring an independent working module. Huobi Korea could sever ties with its global parent which, if goes through, could also result in the entity changing its name.

The Huobi crypto exchange expanded into the South Korean market back in 2017. With its country headquarters located in Seoul, the Huobi exchange began offering crypto exchanges services in South Korea in 2018.

Leon Li, the co-founder of Huobi Global reportedly owns 72 percent shares of Huobi Korea. These shares could be purchased by Cho Kook-bong, the chairperson of Huobi Korea if and when the decision is officially finalised.

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Huobi Global joined the list of several exchanges like Binance and KuCoin to get its proofs of its reserves audited in December, following the dramatic crash of the FTX crypto exchange.

At the time it was indicated that out of the $3 billion that were stored in Huobi Global's reserves, 43.3 percent of the holdings were stored as Huobi's native token HT.

Last week however, the HT token dropped by 11 percent and currently stands at the price point of $4.85 (roughly Rs. 398), as per CoinMarketCap. In the last one month, the HT token has tumbled by 30 percent.

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In the backdrop of the turbulent crypto market momentum, Huobi Global also announced that it was laying off 20 percent of its work force.

These could be the reasons why Huobi Korea could be looking to explore an independent operation in the budding crypto market.

The crypto market in South Korea touched the valuation of $46 billion (roughly Rs. 3,66,318 crore) by the end of 2021, with the number of users reaching nearly 5.58 million or around 10 percent of the country's population, as per a study by South Korea's Financial Service Commission.

South Korea is taking a rather crypto-friendly approach in order to establish itself as an industry hub.

The Asian nation, for instance, has decided to delay the imposition of a 20 percent tax on crypto earnings till 2025.

Not just the crypto industry, but the Asian tech hub is also exploring ventures in the metaverse industry.

The government of South Korea is planning to invest over $177 million (roughly Rs. 1,372 crore) in supporting metaverse projects that will also trigger job opportunities in the sector.

Huobi Korea, that had emerged as the nation's second-largest exchange in January 2021, could be looking out for ways to safeguard its business against Huobi Global's ongoing troubles.

In 2021, Huobi Korea bagged a certification from the Korea Internet and Security Agency after the exchange proved that it is in compliance with the nation's financial laws.

Will crypto tax hurt the industry in India? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Huobi, South Korea

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More