Hong Kong-based Huobi Group, the operator of China's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has chosen Singapore as its regional headquarters, while deciding on a different location for its European headquarters.
Using WeChat, a Huobi official confirmed to CoinDesk that the headquarters will supervise activities in Southeast Asia, but declined to comment on whether this is the sole region covered by the office's jurisdiction.
Following a recent shift in focus away from its original home of Beijing, co-founder Du Jun said that the company had chosen Singapore as its new headquarters in response to questions from Bloomberg News.
Since May, when the Chinese government declared a crackdown on cryptocurrency trading, Huobi has relocated a significant portion of its personnel to its Singapore office.
Similarly, Huobi reported that Du had moved to the city-state, but the other co-founder, Leon Li, had remained in China. According to reports, the Chinese government has placed limits on Li's movement over the border.
Du said Huobi intends to establish a second regional headquarters in either the United Kingdom or France next year. As part of its compliance with Chinese rules, the company has stated that it will offload all Chinese customers by the end of the year.
Based on a filing document with Singapore's Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, Li holds a controlling stake in Huobi International Pte., which was established in August of this year and has its main headquarters in Singapore. The filing also states that the company's other two shareholders are Zhen Partners Fund I, L.P. and Atlas Value Ltd.
Huobi Tech, a Hong Kong company that is also founded by Li but is a separate entity, has formed a subsidiary, Huobi Singapore, to serve its domestic customers.
The entity, Feu International, has submitted an application to the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a license to accept digital token payments.
Ulisse Dellorto, Asia-Pacific managing director of research firm Chainalysis, said that Singapore has positioned itself as "a leader in cryptocurrency adoption and has attracted crypto firms and fintech companies alike."
Crypto.com, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, relocated its headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore earlier this year.
While Huobi has had staff running an exchange business out of Singapore for years, the establishment of an official headquarters in the city-state signifies a further separation from the company's home nation, which outlawed all cryptocurrency transactions and services on the mainland in September.
