Huobi Group, a big brand in the cryptocurrency industry, announced on Friday the gaining of regulatory approval from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) for the British Virgin Islands.
According to the press release shared with Finance Magnates, the approval to operate as a licensed virtual assets exchange was granted to Huobi’s local subsidiary, Brtuomi Worldwide Limited (BWL).
“This landmark approval makes Huobi the first licensed digital asset exchange for institutional-grade derivative products in the British Virgin Islands,” said Lily Zhang, the CFO of the Huobi Group.
With the new approval, Huobi is planning to launch spot and derivatives cryptocurrency trading, along with other potential lines of products.
“We see a huge market opportunity in cryptocurrency derivatives, with perpetual futures accounting for about half of global cryptocurrency trading volumes in 2021. With the growing importance of compliance in the industry, we will strive to meet all regulatory requirements as we expand,” Zhang added.
“Going forward, we will work closely with the British Virgin Islands regulators to develop a suite of licensed trading products and services, and foster the cryptocurrency industry’s growth in the territory.”
A Major Crypto Exchange
Huobi is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges and has made a mark in both crypto spot and derivatives markets. It is headquartered in Seychelles and largely captures the crypto-crypto trading markets.
Meanwhile, the exchange stopped offering cryptocurrency derivatives products in New Zealand only a couple of months after expanding its operations in the country. In addition, it prohibits its services to individuals from 11 jurisdictions, including the US, Canada, Japan, Iran and Singapore, whereas users from the UK, mainland China and ten other jurisdictions are blocked from accessing its derivatives products.
Earlier in July, Huobi shuttered its operations in Thailand after its local license was revoked.
