Crypto exchange Huobi Global to close Singapore accounts by end-March 2022

CRYPTO exchange Huobi Global will close the accounts of all its Singapore-based users on Mar 31 next year. Services to these users will also be gradually phased out prior to that date.

In a statement on its website on Tuesday (Nov 9), Huobi Global wrote: "To comply with the laws of Singapore, we will have to include Singapore as a restricted jurisdiction. Regrettably, this means Huobi Global can no longer offer services to Singapore-based users."

It also advised Singapore-based users to "take immediate action" to close out their active positions and withdraw all digital assets before Mar 31.

This comes after China's crackdown on private digital assets forced the exchange, which was founded in China, to phase out China-based accounts by the end of this year.

Huobi Singapore, a subsidiary under Huobi Technology - a separate entity from Huobi Global - said on Wednesday (Nov 10) that this move "has been planned to pave the way" for Huobi Singapore to establish a presence in the city-state as a regulated digital assets exchange platform.

Its platform is expected to launch by the end of 2021, subject to it securing the necessary approvals, Huobi Singapore said in its statement.

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Edward Chen, its executive director and chief executive officer, said: "Huobi Singapore is committed to complying with both local and international regulations to provide a regulated and safe trading platform for retail and corporate users."

Huobi Singapore's parent company, Huobi Technology, is a Hong Kong-listed company separate from Huobi Global.

Huobi Singapore is registered as Feu International, which is named in the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) list of entities currently exempted from holding a license to provide digital payment token services.

Singapore's Payment Services Act requires these service providers, including crypto exchanges, to be licensed. But as part of transitional arrangements in the Act, some entities have been granted exemptions from holding a licence while their applications are under review.

Huobi Global's co-founder Du Jun told the Financial Times in an article published this week that cutting off its Chinese clients would slash revenues by 30 per cent, but that the exchange therefore plans to boost its customer base in other financial centres. Du is said to be running the business from Singapore.

CoinDesk reported in September that Huobi had moved "significant portions" of its operations to Singapore ahead of the Chinese government's crackdown.

The exchange announced early this week that it would move its spot trading services to Gibraltar, after receiving approval from local authorities.

According to a user agreement last updated on Jul 26 this year on Huobi's website, its services are also prohibited in the United States, Canada, Japan, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Crimea.

Huobi Global is not named in the MAS's list of exempted entities. Neither is it in the separate list of entities that are "no longer exempt from holding a licence".

Huobi Global's exit from Singapore also comes after global crypto bourse Binance stopped Singapore-based users from buying or trading on its platform on Oct 26. Binance's move comes after an earlier round of curbs following an investor warning by the MAS.

Like Huobi Global, Binance has a separate Singapore unit, Binance.sg, operated by an entity known as Binance Asia Services. It is currently exempted from holding a license.