What’s Happening Over at Huobi?

Huobi Global, the crypto exchange rumored to have been acquired by Justin Sun in October through an intermediary company, is beset with all kinds of rumors. Huobi has denied some of the claims—and confirmed others.

Huobi in Trouble?

Strange things are happening over at Huobi.

The crypto exchange confirmed today that it would cut about 20% of its workforce. The news comes as Huobi is rumored to have closed down internal communication and feedback channels. The company is also reportedly requiring its domestic staff to register for Huobi accounts in order to receive salaries paid out in stablecoins, and is thought to have canceled various employee benefits.  

“The planned layoff ratio is about 20%, but it is not implemented now. With the current state of the bear market, a very lean team will be maintained going forward,” stated a company spokesperson. However, they denied rumors of internal communication and feedback channels being closed down, and said the claims about slashed employee benefits were incorrect.  

According to CoinRanking, Huobi Global is currently the 10th largest crypto exchange in the world in terms of trading volume. In August 2022, Huobi founder Leon Li started publicizing his interest in selling his 60% stake in the company; by early October, the exchange had struck a deal with Hong Kong-based investment firm About Capital, giving it control of a majority stake within the company.

Tron founder Justin Sun is rumored to have used About Capital as an intermediary company in order to acquire Huobi. Sun has denied the claims, insisting that he only joined the company as an advisor. Interestingly, on-chain data seems to indicate that Sun moved roughly $100 million in USDT and USDC to the exchange earlier today. He also took to Twitter to reassure Huobi customers, encouraging them to “ignore the FUD and keep building.”

Disclaimer: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and several other crypto assets.