Crypto Regulators in Malaysia Adds Huobi Exchange to its Alert List
- Huobi recently announced plans to end derivatives trading in New Zealand a few months after getting its operating license.
- While the US and Australia have been easy-going for the crypto exchange, Thailand and New Zealand remain tough.
Malaysian financial regulators have released a statement claiming that the crypto exchange, Huobi, has been operating in the country without an official registration with the Securities Commission (SC). The commission has reportedly added the crypto exchange to its investor alert list.
The SC shared this announcement in a tweet, stating that all market-based activities in Malaysia require its approval, and companies unable to secure this approval would be deemed unlicensed or unregistered. Malaysian crypto users are advised not to invest or engage with such unregistered service providers. Residents who proceed to use such platforms do so at their own risk, according to the securities commission. In addition, such users would be unable to access legal help to resolve possible losses.
According to reports, Huobi representatives confirmed that talks have begun with Malaysian authorities regarding its presence in the country. In addition, the crypto exchange has been working towards strengthening its ties with regulators in different countries as it seeks to expand its offerings further.
Huobi is moving toward expanding its presence in nations like Australia and the US. Early in August, Australian officials approved the exchange, and Huobi is a step closer to providing services to American customers after obtaining a FinCEN license in the US.
While the crypto service provider is moving in line with its ambitions, other regions have not been as yielding as the US and Australia. For example, Thailand and New Zealand are two countries where the exchange currently has difficulties penetrating their local markets. Despite numerous extensions from local regulators, Huobi’s Thailand branch recently shut operations because it could not address serious structural problems.
Huobi announced on August 16 that it would stop trading derivatives in New Zealand to comply with existing regulations. The news comes a few months after the crypto exchange obtained its operating license in New Zealand.
A statement on the Houbi website states that the derivatives trading will cease on August 23, and from then, Houbi will no longer accept users from New Zealand. The statement read in part,
Huobi Global will cease intake of users with New Zealand KYC and IP addresses effective from 23 August 2022, Huobi Global will disallow New Zealand-based users who do not hold any derivative positions from opening new positions effective from 23 August 2022.
Huobi will only permit users with New Zealand addresses to shut out active positions effective from August 2022. New Zealand users will also be unable to access other services such as coin-margined futures and swaps, margined contracts, and exchange-traded products (ETP.)
In other news, Huobi, co-founder of Leon Li, announced plans to sell his 60% ownership for $3 billion. It’s unclear if the company’s recent challenges played any role in this decision.
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