HT surges! Bloomberg: Huobi founder Li Lin seeks to sell Huobi for an estimated 3 billion USD, FTX declines to comment, Justin Sun denies negotiations.

Bloomberg reporter Zheping Huang reported that Li Lin, the founder of Huobi Group, is in talks with multiple investors to sell a major stake. Sources mentioned that FTX and Justin Sun have had preliminary contact, but this has not been confirmed.

The report stated that Huobi is valued at $3 billion, with sources revealing that FTX founder SBF and TRON founder Justin Sun have had preliminary discussions. Sources also indicated that Huobi's current investors, Sequoia Capital China and IDG Capital, supported Li Lin's decision at the shareholder meeting in July. The related transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this month, with an anticipated valuation of $2-3 billion. If successful, Li Lin could see a transaction worth over $1 billion.

Investors mentioned in the report deny

The report claimed that FTX refused to comment on the matter; while Justin Sun denied ever discussing the matter through messages.

We have not engaged any matters related to the Bloomberg story at this moment.

— H.E. Justin Sun🌞🇬🇩 (@justinsuntron) August 12, 2022

Review of recent news about Huobi

July 2022: Media Wu Shuo Blockchain reported that multiple sources confirmed that founder Li Lin is seeking to sell his stake in Huobi. Li Lin owns over 50% of the shares, but it may be difficult to sell at a high valuation. Shareholders of the exchange include Sequoia China, ZhenFund, and others. It is said that after the ban in China, Huobi cleared out Chinese users, and its revenue has declined significantly. The exchange is currently undergoing layoffs.

November 2021: According to Bloomberg, Huobi co-founder Du Jun stated that Singapore would become the new headquarters for Huobi's business outside of Beijing. They also plan to establish another headquarters in France or the UK in 2023.

September 2021: After China announced a ban on all cryptocurrency trading services in September, Huobi immediately announced that it would complete the orderly withdrawal of old Chinese users by December 31, 2021.

May 2021: Chinese Vice Premier and head of the Financial Stability and Development Committee Liu He stated the crackdown on Bitcoin mining and trading activities. Huobi announced that it would cease the sale of mining machines and related services in China and suspend hosting services for users who have purchased Bitcoin mining machine products. It is said that this move is to actively cooperate with China's latest regulatory policies.

August 2018: Huobi Group acquired the Hong Kong-listed company Pantronics Holdings, which was later renamed "Huobi Technology."

Huobi's Hong Kong Stock and HT Coin Price