China's ban on cryptocurrency trading in yuan took effect, shutting out mainland exchanges from the domestic market. Huobi, which operated among the world's largest crypto platforms, responded by esta
China's ban on cryptocurrency trading in yuan took effect, shutting out mainland exchanges from the domestic market. Huobi, which operated among the world's largest crypto platforms, responded by establishing operations in Hong Kong and Singapore to continue serving customers across Asia. The company also registered a subsidiary in South Korea called Huobi Korea to handle won-denominated trading.
Founder Leon Li announced that Huobi Exchange, the firm's main trading portal, stopped all yuan-based trading. The exchange will now facilitate only US dollar-to-cryptocurrency transactions, and only for what it calls "qualified investors." Huobi China in Beijing shifted to blockchain research and consulting work.
The core trading business moved to Huobi Professional, a Singapore-based operation with a Hong Kong branch. The entity operates a crypto-to-crypto exchange and added USDT, Tether's dollar-pegged token. Huobi Professional plans to launch over-the-counter services for peer-to-peer trading.
OKEx, a Hong Kong derivatives platform connected to the OKCoin team, positioned itself to capture Chinese investors forced into peer-to-peer channels through apps like Telegram. The exchange launched its own over-the-counter service.
The Chinese government initiated the crackdown in September, barring individuals and companies from raising funds via initial coin offerings and mandating the end of yuan trading by October 31. Hong Kong exchanges including Gatecoin reported a flood of new registrations from mainland traders seeking alternatives.
Japan emerged as the most attractive destination for crypto businesses. The country's financial regulator granted licenses to 11 digital currency exchanges in September. Another 19 companies have applied for the Virtual Currency Exchange designation.
Zhao Changpeng, head of Binance, told Bloomberg he was pursuing local partnerships and potentially acquiring an existing exchange in Japan. Bixin, a Beijing firm, signaled similar interest. Mike Kayamori of Quoine, one of the September license recipients based in Tokyo, said the interest from Chinese traders exceeded his company's capacity. "We're talking to almost all of those guys. They're all desperate now," Kayamori told Bloomberg. "There's a lot of Chinese retail people reaching out to us, but we can't handle it."
