Huobi Exchange - Who Owns It?

The Crypto sector is highly volatile and mysterious. The latest secret is the ownership of the Huobi exchange.

According to tracker CoinGecko, China-based Huobi Global continues to produce a notable daily trading volume of more than $300 million despite losing its position as the world's leading exchange.

On 7 October, the Huobi exchange platform announced that About Capital Management (HK) Co. Ltd, a Hong Kong based-asset management company, had become the exchange's controlling shareholder following a successful buyout deal.

While the transaction of an unrevealed amount crowns About Capital as the new controlling shareholder, the exchange stated that the transition would have no impact on core operations or business management teams. About Capital also revealed plans to create a global strategic advisory board "led by leading industry figures", in addition to other initiatives such as establishing a margin and risk provision fund and measures to improve the exchange's competitiveness.

Justin Sun - The probable owner

According to reports, Justin Sun spent about $1 billion to acquire roughly 60% shareholding through the Hong Kong-based asset manager About Capital.

Sequoia China and ZhenFund transferred 28% of their ownership in Huobi Global to About Capital. According to insiders, Justin Sun hid his name from the agreements to avoid Chinese scrutiny.

Huobi Global rebranded to "Huobi" because Justin Sun's previous acquisition agreement prohibited shareholders from using Chinese trademarks or conducting business in mainland China.

People familiar with the matter revealed a strict agreement between all parties in this equity transfer agreement regarding trademarks, particularly the use of the Chinese brand "Huobi".

In October, it was reported that the controlling shareholder of the exchange completed the share sale, making About Capital's M&A fund the new controller. Justin Sun joined the Global Advisory Committee of Huobi Global and repeatedly stated that he was not the buyer of Huobi.