Huobi officially shuts down futures and derivatives trading in China

The largest cryptocurrency exchange in China, Huobi, has effectively shut down their futures and derivatives trading today in China following the strict ban on all crypto-related activity by the Chinese government in September.

Despite being one of the world's leading Bitcoin and Ethereum trading platforms, Huobi has been forced to shut down its crypto-related activity in China, including its futures and derivatives trading which it has officially closed down today. It plans to stop all crypto accounts gradually until December 31st 2021. 

Founded in China, Huobi now has offices in South Korea, Japan, and the US. It was the first crypto exchange to withdraw from mainland China, anticipating the arrival of the strictest crackdown on crypto yet. Huobi founders and backers

While Huobi has withdrawn many of its services, and relocated substantial parts of its operations abroad, the current ban in China means that they have had to gradually close all China-based services before the end of the year.

In October co-founder of Huobi, Du Jun, told Bloomberg: 

“In the past, we had been communicating with regulators to see if there are still ways to legally operate in China. But this time, there’s no room for discussion. Our strategy is all about going global now.” 

Other China-based crypto exchanges and mining companies have been forced to shut down, withdrawing many of their operations from the country and relocating to popular destinations such as Singapore, Kazakhstan, Canada, and the US. 

In the meanwhile, Huobi has announced that the Japanese Financial Services Agency has approved Huobi Japan to register as a Type 1 Financial Instruments Business. This means that the exchange will be able to trade, underwrite and manage cryptocurrency derivatives in Japan.

Huobi Japan CEO Haiteng Chen stated:

"We're very excited to have reached this milestone. It will enable us to expand business beyond spot trading and fuel the next phase of our growth in Japan. Going forward, we plan to develop a number of crypto derivatives products to meet the growing demands of the market." 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.