Justin Sun, the owner of Huobi Global, a cryptocurrency exchange, tweeted on April 10 that the exchange had generated $150 million in revenue during Q1 2023, with $120 million in expenditures. This resulted in a net income of $30 million. According to Sun, several measures were implemented during the quarter to cut costs and improve efficiency. For Q2 2023, he predicted that the exchange would generate $187 million in revenue and incur $76 million in expenses, resulting in a net income of $110 million.
Until the start of the off-boarding of its users from mainland China in 2021, Huobi was one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges by volume. Following this, its market share decreased from 19% in 2020 to a projected 2.2% in Q4 2022. Through his company About Capital, Sun, who identifies himself as an “adviser” at Huobi Global, is said to have acquired 100% of the exchange’s shares from its founders in November 2022.
As part of restructuring efforts, Huobi Global reportedly cut employee benefits and fired 20% of its workers early this year. A significant occurrence happened on March 10 when Huobi Token HT $3.65, the exchange’s native token, experienced a flash crash that caused a more than 90% drop in price in just a few hours.
However, one significant user, who goes by the Twitter name Lantian666, claims to have lost $4 million due to margin liquidations on HT during the flash crash. The token has now regained most of its losses. Despite statements from Sun that all users affected by the crash will receive compensation, Lantian666 said they have not yet received their full reimbursement from Huobi due to the disaster.
