On 9th November, Huobi Global, a cryptocurrency exchange, said that it will suspend the accounts of all customers based in Singapore by 31st March 2022. This is to ensure compliance with local rules.
What did Huobi say?
As per Jeff Mei, the Global Strategy Director, and Du Jun, the co-founder, Huobi is developing an international footprint to compensate for the expulsion of its Chinese users. They accounted for 1/2 of its overall customer base and thirty per cent of its revenues. Huobi said that mainland Chinese accounts would be phased out by the close of 2021 after the People’s Bank of China clamped down again on crypto trading.
According to Huobi’s statement, Singapore, which is recognized as a cryptocurrency hotbed, has been added to its list of prohibited jurisdictions. Before the end of March, they encouraged users to liquidate their assets and close their holdings.
A user agreement signed on 26th July prohibited people from certain countries from trading on Huobi. Those countries are the United States, Cuba, Canada, Japan, Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Venezuela, Crimea, and Syria. Singapore, on the other hand, was featured on the list. Huobi did not divulge any further information.
Several crypto businesses, including Binance’s local subsidiary, have filed for PSA permits in Singapore. As per the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) website, Huobi also did the same via its local partner Feu International. They applied for a digital coin payments license.
According to CoinDesk, Huobi has relocated a large portion of its workforce during early 2021 in anticipation of a fresh clampdown in China.
On 2nd September, the Monetary Authority of Singapore issued a warning for investors on Binance’s international website. The exchange discontinued trading the Singapore dollar in trading pairs a few days later.
