Huobi Thailand To Close After Watchdog Cancels Trading License

key takeaways

Some customers haven’t withdrawn their assets from the platform
After its closure, Huobi Thailand won’t have contractual bindings to Huobi Group

Cryptocurrency exchange operator Huobi’s Thai subsidiary is winding down after the local regulator revoked its license.

In a statement on Thursday, Huobi Thailand said it no longer has an official license. The platform will permanently close on July 1, 2022. It had been attempting to contact its customers for the past 10 months to inform them to withdraw assets, the unit said.

“However, there are still an amount of out of reach customers which we couldn’t contact,” the trading platform added, according to a statement translated from Thai to English.

The unit listed Telegram and email addresses for those that have so far been unable to pull out their assets. Its announcement comes after Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday announced the local unit’s delisting as a digital asset trading center. Without providing much detail, the watchdog said Huobi Thailand failed to revise its systems and personnel in line with rules.

According to a statement on the regulator’s website, Thailand’s SEC proposed revoking the exchange’s local license in September. After notifying the firm about inconsistencies and giving it time for modifications, an investigation found the firm’s management structure and operations were insufficient to ensure compliance with relevant rules.

At the time, the regulator recommended to the country’s finance ministry to suspend Huobi’s services, during which customer assets should have been returned within 3 months. Considering the firm’s statement on Thursday, it is apparent that not all customers have recovered their assets.

Post-closure, Huobi Thailand will have no connections or legal obligations to the Huobi Group. “Huobi Group and its affiliates are not and will not be responsible for any issues regarding Huobi Thailand,” it said.

Huobi’s Thai unit and Huobi Global did not immediately return Blockworks’ request for comment.

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