Huobi Licensed in British Virgin Islands, UK Timeline Still Unknown

Huobi, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, continues to expand its global footprint by entering the British Overseas Territory of the British Virgin Islands.

Huobi officially announced on Friday that it has obtained an investment business license from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of the British Virgin Islands. The approval allows Huobi to operate a virtual asset exchange under his subsidiary Brtuomi Worldwide Limited (BWL).

According to the announcement, BWL will offer various cryptocurrency trading services, including spot and derivative trading of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

The company has established itself as the first digital asset trading platform operator in the British Virgin Islands to be licensed to operate an institutional-level crypto trading platform for both professional and retail investors.

Lily Zhang, Chief Financial Officer of Huobi Group, said, “This license will have a significant impact on institutional investors as it will be the first exchange to offer regulated crypto derivatives products and trading services in the region. We believe that it will give

“Many institutional investors in the crypto industry are active in the British Virgin Islands, so we see a huge market opportunity there.”

Zhang said Huobi also holds a license for distributed ledger technology in the territory of Gibraltar. Huobi Group does not have a specific timeline for when it will expand its services to other parts of the UK, his CFO told Cointelegraph.

BWL will not only become a formally regulated entity in the British Virgin Islands alongside companies such as Alameda Trust and Three Arrows Capital, but will also be a member of the FSC’s Financial Innovation Sandbox.

According to official FSC records, BWL is the second sandbox participant approved by the FSC, alongside Structure Financial, a global trading platform that facilitates crypto-based investments and lending. The regulator has set up a sandbox in 2020 to support innovation in the growing fintech sector and allow companies to try out new products and services.

Related: Huobi crypto exchange gains licenses in Dubai and New Zealand as Thai affiliate shuts down

“Going forward, we will work closely with regulators in the British Virgin Islands to develop a suite of sanctioned trading products and services to facilitate the growth of the cryptocurrency industry in the region,” Zhang said. says.

The British Virgin Islands is one of the leading global destinations for cryptocurrency companies. The British Virgin Islands has overtaken the United States as his second most popular location for crypto hedge funds, according to data from PwC’s 4th Annual Global Crypto Hedge Fund Report 2022.

In June, a British Virgin Islands court ordered the liquidation of Singapore-based venture capital firm Three Arrows Capital. According to official data, the company is registered with the FSC as a professional fund.