There are a few questions about the ownership of Huobi, the Crypto Exchange App
Selling out of shares –
Huobi Global, a platform with Chinese roots, faded from global leadership but still commands a daily trading volume of over $300 million. Huobi Global stated last month that co-founder and controlling shareholder Leon Li had sold his stake in the company to a buyout firm managed by About Capital Management HK Co. Sequoia China and ZhenFund also sold their combined 28% stake in the company to About Capital, mentioned in a report.
There have been discussions about Justin Sun spending about $1 billion to acquire the roughly 60% shareholding via the Hong Kong-based asset manager About Capital.
Ownership in jeopardy
According to the reports, Sun kept his name out of the deal to avoid scrutiny from China. As the crypto asset is almost banned in the country. Sun has repeatedly denied any involvement in Huobi Global’s sale, while a Huobi Global spokesperson denied that Sun was the buyer.
Calls to the contact number on About Capital’s website for comment weren’t returned. There was no immediate response to emails to its general query address. Spokespeople for Sequoia China and ZhenFund declined to comment. Sun’s involvement in the crypto exchange acquisition was first reported by the online outlet Wu Blockchain.
Unstable Environment –
“It’s tough in the current environment to have faith in centralized exchanges, let alone if their ownership structure is unclear,” stated Wayne Zhao, a partner, and analyst with research house Token Insight. Sun, 32, founder of the Tron ecosystem, whose eponymous named native token is a top 20 virtual coin by market value. By his own account, Sun is worth more than $25 billion in Bitcoin, other crypto tokens, US dollars, and Treasury bills.
In his advisory role, Sun has laid out his vision for Huobi Global on Twitter, including establishing a stronghold in Asia.
Sun’s overview & interest in the Exchange platform –
He told followers in on tweet last month that “you can rest assured I won’t harvest you” until Huobi Global is a top-three exchange again.
The price of the HT token more than doubled after Li’s share sale was announced but then plunged to levels that prevailed before the transaction. Sun said in an October interview that he owns “tens of millions” of HT tokens. “Justin’s playbook is always about fan bases and the attention economy,” said Bowen Wang, co-founder of crypto venture firm Smrti Lab “When he gains enough attention, he will benefit from HT token appreciation.”
Sun is due to discuss Huobi Global’s plans for a new branding strategy, global expansion, and regulatory compliance at a briefing in Singapore. The invitation to the event, which lists a press conference as well as a group interview and a dinner with Sun, said he’s attending in his capacity as an adviser to the firm.
