Huobi Group announced that the spot trading business of Huobi Global has received approval from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) to commence the migration process of its operations to an affiliated entity, Huobi Technology (Gibraltar) Co. Ltd, a fully regulated DLT service provider in Gibraltar (“Huobi Gibraltar”). This will enable it to provide spot trading services through Huobi Gibraltar, which had obtained a distributed ledger technology (DLT) license from the GFSC. The DLT license enables the use of DLT for storing or transmitting value belonging to others, within the scope of the licensed activities authorized by the GFSC, in or from Gibraltar.
This move has major implications for Huobi Group’s spot trading business and its clients. With the migration of the spot trading business, Huobi Group will be able to offer spot trading services through Huobi Gibraltar, a centralized digital asset exchange regulated by the GFSC. This will be attractive for Huobi Group’s institutional clients, many of whom require strict compliance with regulatory requirements, and retail clients who are interested in spot trading and are willing to trade in compliance with our policies and rules. Previously, Huobi Gibraltar’s business had been limited to digital asset brokerage services targeting institutional users and high net worth individual users, and OTC retail services.
“This marks a key milestone in Huobi’s global expansion efforts. The global cryptocurrency industry is moving towards compliant growth and we recognize the need to align our business with this trend,” said Huobi Group co-founder Du Jun. “Gibraltar, as a highly experienced, sophisticated, and globally recognized international financial services center, fits our needs well.”
Gibraltar was the first jurisdiction to have introduced a purpose-built distributed ledger technology (DLT) regulatory framework in 2018. This scheme, based on nine principles, was designed to provide a flexible approach for the cryptocurrency industry, reaching a balance between regulation and innovation. Huobi Gibraltar’s DLT license was among the first batch of licenses granted by Gibraltar through this framework.
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Huobi has been working towards compliant growth since 2017. As of today, Huobi Group has obtained the following:
- DLT license, money lending license and charity registration in Gibraltar
- 007 cryptocurrency exchange license in Japan
- Type 4 (advising on securities), Type 9 (asset management), Trust, and TCSP licenses in Hong Kong
- Trust company license in Nevada, United States
Going forward, Huobi will continue to ensure that its global expansion strategy is in line with the laws and regulations of the countries it operates in.
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