The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has placed cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global on its investor alert list for operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) in the country without being registered.
Huobi Global [https://t.co/la9Y3ntGuq]
has been added to the SC’s Investor Alert List for operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) in Malaysia without being registered with the SC. pic.twitter.com/z3IGgnCa0t— SC Malaysia (@SecComMY) August 22, 2022
In November 2020, Huobi announced in a vaguely worded statement that it had secured a license from the “Malaysian authorities” to provide a “safe and regulated way to trade cryptocurrencies” in the country.
The regulator stepped up to clarify that while Huobi was allowed to operate within the jurisdictions of Labuan, the company required additional approval to carry out regulated activities such as offering crypto exchange services to Malaysians outside of Labuan.
Huobi has had a long history with regulatory troubles as most recently, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission revoked its operating license, forcing it to shut down in July.
Prior to that, Huobi announced that it will no longer be able to offer services to its users in Singapore in November last year.
On top of that, Beijing’s crypto ban forced Huobi to drop its Chinese users by the 31st December last year.
The series of failed expansions proved costly as Huobi witnessed a sharp drop in revenue and was forced to lay off more than 30% of its workforce.
Just last week, Bloomberg reported that Huobi Group’s founder Leon Li is currently in talks to sell off 60% of the stakes in the company in a deal valued that could be worth up to US$3 billion. FTX’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Tron’s founder Justin Sun were among the potential investors involved in the preliminary talks.
