Huobi’s subsidiary HBIT has received a license from the US Financial Crime Enforcement Bureau (FinCEN) Money Services Business Registration (MSB). This will help the cryptocurrency exchange to conduct digital currency related business in the US in the future.
Huobi’s US Push
The Chinese cryptocurrency exchange attempted to enter the US market in 2018 but withdrew immediately. Barely a year after setting up its business in the country, Huobi ceased operations.
During that time, Huobi promised that it would return to the market in a “more integrated and influential fashion”. According to Du Jun, one of the company’s co-founders, Huobi lacked “a strong commitment to the market” as well as “a good management team”.
Huobi believes that the FinCEN license will create a foundation for it to operate in the US. The MSB license will allow the exchange’s brokerage business of Huobi Technology to conduct foreign exchange (forex dealer) and money transfer (money transmitter) operations across the country.
According to CoinGecko, Huobi is one of the top 10 largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume globally. The US entry would put the company in competition with the likes of Coinbase.
“In the future, Huobi Technology is expected to provide secure and compliant digital asset services to users in the United States and strengthen the pace of international business expansion.”
global expansion
The US push comes at a time when Huobi was reported to be struggling amid a downturn in the market. Rumors about a possible downsizing surfaced in June as the exchange reported a steep drop in revenue.
The removal of all Chinese users was cited as one of the major reasons. It is important to note that Huobi had retired the accounts of all existing Chinese users by the end of 2021 and moved its Asian headquarters to Singapore.
Losing Chinese users costs 30% of revenue for the exchange, but also provides incentives for global expansion, with the US being one of the main locations.
Additionally, Huobi Group scored runs Innovation license under Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) last month. While DIFC is not a trading license, it will open many doors for the exchange in terms of access to the local tech ecosystem and preferential treatment for technology research and development, capital repatriation and taxes.
Huobi has also secured a new license from the Financial Services Provider Register (FSPR) of New Zealand to provide its crypto trading services in the country.
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