Justin Sun accuses Huobi founder’s brother of profiting from free HT tokens

Tron founder and Huobi “advisor” Justin Sun said Li Wei, the younger brother of Huobi founder Li Lin should never have received millions of Huobi’s native tokens for free, nevermind profiting by selling them now. The price of HT tokens has tumbled over the past month.

Wei received the token when HT was initially distributed and he has been “consistently selling off” and cashing out since April, Sun tweeted today. “Now, the HT DAO committee is stepping in to rectify this issue.”

By rectifying, Sun means Huobi plans to engage with Wei “to negotiate a refund and arrange for the destruction of his remaining HT tokens.” This action will be “not only a matter of justice but also serves the best interests of everyone in the HT DAO community.”

When asked why Wei got the tokens in the first place and if he played or is playing a role at Huobi, Sun told The Block “he has no role” and that he got the tokens “just because of brotherhood.” The HT token was launched in 2018.

Sun said Wei started selling HT tokens recently and has sold 2.37 million HT for 7.45 million USDT, citing exchange data on Huobi. When asked how many tokens Wei has in total, Sun said, “We don’t have the number since it was a long time ago but max few million HT.” 

Wei should return the USDT, Sun said, adding that he should never have been given any HT. “We believe in fairness and the importance of rewarding those who genuinely contribute to the growth and development of HT DAO,” Sun said.

Wei and Lin could not immediately be reached for comment.

Huobi stake sale

Huobi recently announced its stake sale, saying that “the controlling shareholder” of the company had agreed to sell its stake to Hong Kong-based investment company About Capital Management’s M&A fund.

While Huobi did not name the controlling shareholder, the news came after reports that claimed Lin was seeking a buyer for his nearly 60% stake in the company and was asking for at least $1 billion. Huobi did not disclose the terms of the deal with About Capital Management.

Sun told The Block at the time that he is only an advisor to Huobi and not a stakeholder. Nonetheless, Sun has been leading decisions at Huobi, recently unveiling a plan to reestablish Huobi as one of the world’s biggest exchanges — with part of it hinging on establishing a hub in the Caribbean.

Lin founded Huobi in 2013 in China. The exchange operator exited its China business in 2021. Now under new ownership, Huobi plans an international expansion.

The price of the Huobi (HT) token

The price of HT is down more than 30% over the past 30 days but has recovered a bit following Sun’s tweets. HT is currently trading at around $3 and has a market capitalization of about $470 million, according to CoinGecko data.

Huobi (HT) token price, source: CoinGecko

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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.