Singapore-based digital asset exchange, Huobi, which is reportedly processing $1 billion in trades daily, has opened a new office Russia.
New Office, Website To Officially Open On November 12th
Huobi, which recently became a publicly listed company in Hong Kong, announced (during a St Petersburg conference) that it would officially open its Russia-based office on November 12th.
In order to make its services more accessible to the country’s residents, Huobi will be launching a Russian language website. Similar to Huobi’s other websites, the new site will have online support and a dedicated call center.
Presumably as an extension to its blockchain startup incubator program (Huobi Labs), Huobi will provide an online support center specifically for Russian firms looking to enter the crypto space.
Collaborating With Russia’s “Top 10” Universities
Notably, Huobi’s support center for Russian startups is being launched through a partnership with the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics (a “top 10” Moscow-based public research university) and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (an academic institution run by Russia’s foreign ministry).
In September, Huobi had joined the Moscow-based VEB Innovation Fund – which is a venture capital-funded financial services platform that focuses on investing in “high technology projects.”
Founded in 2011, the VEB Fund aims to provide local startups the financial resources they need to develop their products.
Huobi Now Lists More Stablecoins
Established first in China, Huobi shifted its operations to other locations after the Chinese government began its crack down on cryptocurrency-related businesses. At present, Huobi has registered offices in Singapore, South Korea, London, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Dubai.
Similar to how many crypto exchanges first started, Huobi only supported bitcoin (BTC) trading back in 2013. However, when crypto prices started to increase significantly last year, Huobi began listing more digital currencies on its trading platform.
After heightened fears regarding controversial stablecoin, Tether’s (USDT) operations, Huobi and many other exchanges have started listing other stablecoins. At present, Huobi lists the following USD-backed coins: Paxos Standard (PAX), True USD (TUSD), USD Coin (USDC), and Gemini Dollars (GUSD).
Huobi Accused Of “Mutual Voting”
In April 2018, Huobi Pro announced its plan to become a block producer (transaction validator) for the EOS platform. In October, a leaked document appeared to show that Huobi had been taking part in mutual and coordinated voting, when electing other block producers.
Although Huobi denied being involved in the incident, critics of the delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism (which EOS uses), such as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, have said that “it was completely predictable [because] … human capacity for eternal vigilance is limited.”
