China’s Troubled Exchange, Huobi Global, Sells Its Major Shares 

Huobi Global, a popular crypto exchange based in China, is currently changing ownership status, according to a report. The founder of the exchange reportedly seeks to sell his shares to a financial firm

Huobi Global Founder To Sell His Shares To About Capital

Since the Beijing regulators banned crypto in 2021, the China-based crypto exchange, Huobi, has struggled to keep operating. However, the news reported that the platform is currently on the verge of changing ownership. 

According to Huobi’s recent announcement, Leon Li, the largest shareholder at Huobi, wants to sell his shares to About Capital. About Capital is an investment management firm situated in Hong Kong and owned by Ted Chen.

Initially, a new firm had stated that Leon Li wanted to sell his shares for over $1B as the entire Huobi exchange was worth $3B. The recent announcement confirmed the earlier report.

Meanwhile, when Huobi Global started operation in 2013, it was the crypto hot-cake in China. However, in 2021, the Beijing authorities declared cryptocurrency transactions illegal. Consequently, the once booming crypto firm suddenly had to venture into different expansion programs and crypto cloud services to survive. 

Beijing Crypto Ban Greatly Affected Huobi Global

Regarding the ban, Huobi and Binance commented that they no longer offer their services to their customers in China. Binance had reportedly started its global expansion before the ban, which kept it running smoothly even after losing China customers. 

On the contrary, Huobi Global mainly had China customers, hence suffered a significant blow when the regulators implemented the ban. Furthermore, the exchange had to lay off about 30% of its staff when its revenue drastically dropped after the ban.

According to the announcement, the change in hands won’t affect the core operation and administrative team of the exchange. In addition, the statement did not disclose the amount involved in the deal.

About Capital To Help Huobi Global Establish Its Global Presence

However, Huobi hinted that the new owner, About Capital, would provide the fund the firm needs to escape its current financial predicaments.  In addition, they planned to incorporate new global brand promotion and many expansion programs.

During a recent interview, Leon Li, founder of Huobi Global, stated that About Capital planned to implement different business strategies to raise sufficient funds for the firm and increase its global competitiveness.

He added that since 2021 when the exchange left the Chinese market, it had been struggling to establish its global presence amidst the harsh market setup. He stated that the firm needs a new set of shareholders to help it with its international expansion mission. 

Li reportedly claimed that was why he took the initiative to sell his shares to the new owners. He concluded that he believed About Capitals could help Huobi Global establish its global presence.

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