Huobi to Shutter Thai Operations

Huobi, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, is shutting down its Thai platform on July 1, less than two years since its launch, after its license was revoked by the country’s crypto watchdog.

An announcement on its website states that the former China-based bourse had been trying to reach its customers since September 2021, when its license was revoked, to facilitate the withdrawal of their assets, but there remains a “significant amount” of customers who it hasn’t been able to contact.

“We are sorry that our journey have [sic] come to an end,” Huobi said.

Huobi Tech had been on the radar of the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission since March 2021, according to a Bloomberg report.

Booming sector

The regulator has, in the past year, moved to strengthen the crypto industry, which is booming in the country. According to Chainalysis, Thailand has one of the world’s highest adoption rates of DeFi. The country had, as of February, eight licensed crypto exchanges, with Bangkok-based Bitkub the dominant player.

Authorities relaxed tax rules for crypto trading until the end of 2023, but banned the use of crypto as a means of payment from April 1, following an announcement in January of a plan to regulate digital asset payments.

Founded in 2013, Huobi serves “tens of millions of users” across five continents and 160 different countries, according to its website. The platform had been on an international expansion bid, and recently acquired Bitex, a crypto platform that built the first Bitcoin exchange in Latin America.