Huobi Clarifies It Has Broken All Ties With Huobi Korea Since Fall 2022

Huobi Global clarified that it has broken all ties to Huobi Korea since the fall of 2022 following reports of the latter's plan to detach itself from its parent company and operate independently.

"Huobi Korea is not a subsidiary of Huobi, and its shares belong to the former Huobi Global's shareholders and have no relationship with Huobi," the international digital asset exchange, which changed its name to Huobi in November 2022, said in a Jan. 11 press release.

According to Huobi, Huobi Global completed the share transfer to About Capital in October 2022, making it the largest shareholder and actual controller of Huobi Global.

However, the deal did not include Huobi Korea's shares, which at the time, belonged to the shareholders of Huobi Global and were divested in the corporate structure.

"In October 2022, Huobi Global completed the share transfer. The acquirer was the M&A fund of About Capital, which also became the largest shareholder and actual controller of Huobi Global. In November 2022, Huobi Global completed a brand upgrade, updating its brand name to Huobi and proposing to develop its operations in various regions around a global development strategy," the press release read.

"Huobi has no relationship with Huobi Korea and is unaware of their upcoming plans in the region. However, Huobi has heard from the Korean user community and will continue to monitor the progress of the matter," Huobi said.

The international crypto exchange platform, however, noted that Huobi's official website and the app are currently available in other regions across the globe with a wide range of language versions and that Huobi Korean users "have always been able to transact through the main Huobi website and will continue to focus on users' needs in the region and provide necessary assistance to users in the region."

Earlier this week, a local South Korean news outlet reported that Huobi Korea planned to detach itself from its parent company, operate independently and change its name.

It also noted that it will negotiate equity ownership and will try to buy out all of its shares currently owned by Huobi Global.

The majority of Huobi Korea's shares or 72% belonged to Huobi Global co-founder Leon Li, which Huobi Korea's chairman Cho Kook-bong plans to purchase.

The report mentioned that Huobi Korea's decision to remove itself from its parent company was triggered after Huobi Global released its Proof-of-Reserves report in December showing that 43.3% of the company's $3 billion in reserves were in self-issues Huobi Token (HT).