Huobi Shutting Down in Thailand Following Agency Ruling – On Wednesday, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked Huobi Thailand’s operating license, causing the company to announce that it will shortly cease operations in the country.
Huobi said in a statement on its website that the platform would be shut down permanently on July 1 and that it is attempting to notify consumers so that they can withdraw their assets before it’s too late. Huobi Global is a top-ten exchange, according to CoinMarketCap, with $2.3 billion in trading volume in the last 24 hours.
Huobi Global stated: “We are sorry that our journey has come to an end,” adding “We sincerely thank you for your long support.”
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Huobi’s venture in Thailand was short-lived; according to its parent company’s website, the company started its platform in the country in late February of 2020. And its services have been halted since early September of last year, after a decision by Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission.
After the company requested an extension to fix issues identified by Thailand’s SEC, including trading, information technology systems, and customer asset retention on Huobi Thailand’s exchange, the agency revoked its license, citing a failure to comply with rules and regulations it holds exchanges operating in Thailand accountable to.
During the review period, the company was expected to return assets to its customers, and while Huobi Thailand claims it has made “best efforts” to do so, the company claims there are “still an amount of out of reach customers” with whom it hasn’t been able to communicate.
Customers will be unable to reclaim assets held on the exchange after it is permanently closed, and “Huobi Thailand will no longer have any ties with Huobi Group and its affiliates,” according to the company’s blog post.
Customers could contact the company via email or the encrypted messaging program Telegram, according to the information supplied.
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It’s not the first time Huobi has had to remove itself from a country. Huobi Technology Holdings Ltd., the company’s parent, was forced to deactivate trading for customers in the United States due to rules and regulations governing cryptocurrency assets, according to a blog post published in November 2019.
According to Huobi co-founder Du Jun, the exchange was also pulled out of China following a crackdown on the crypto business last year, which cost Huobi roughly 30% of its revenue.