Huobi Announces Plans To Set Up Shop In London
Cryptocurrency exchanges seem to be eying the European market following the latest announcements about Huobi’s plans to open an office in London and Binance’s decision to move to Malta.
Huobi which was founded in Beijing revealed that its new office in the European region will be located in London and not Switzerland or Malta as it had been initially speculated.Chern Chung, the senior business development manager for Huobi in Europe stated that the company decided to launch its new office in London because it is the most active trading center in Europe.
Chun also stated that the exchange plans to comply with all the relevant regulations involved in the European market. The expanded presence in the European market will allow the company to benefit from more growth. It is currently rated as the fourth largest crypto exchange in the world based on trading volume. The announcement comes amid the exit of many cryptocurrencies from other countries due to strict regulations. Many exchanges have particularly exited Japan after failing to align with the tough regulatory requirements imposed by one of the country’s watchdogs.
Binance which is currently the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world in terms of volume is one of the exchanges that have exited the Japanese market. The exchange has been tied into a tough regulatory battle in Japan, forcing it to make the decision to exit. Binance has also chosen to shift its operations into Europe, particularly in Malta where it has received a warm welcome.
Japan has been reacting to hacks on cryptocurrency exchanges which have led to the loss of people’s investments in cryptocurrency. This has forced the country’s government to crack down on exchanges to force them to take measures aimed at strengthening the security of their exchange platforms. However, some exchanges claim that the regulatory changes have been making it more difficult to maintain operations in the country.
Malta is one of the European countries that have a positive opinion about cryptocurrency and it also recently launched a policy designed to create a regulatory framework for decentralized ledger technologies. This makes the country more attractive to companies and organization whose domain is the cryptocurrency market. The situation represents a big win for both the exchange as well as for the country. Authorities in Malta believe that Binance will provide the opportunities for the country to evolve as within the blockchain arena.