Huobi dismisses plunging stablecoin reserves as ‘FUD’

Exchange spokesperson refuted claims that any team members have been detained by Chinese authorities

article-image

Grey82/Shutterstock, modified by Blockworks

share

Following speculation that Chinese officials detained some Huobi executives, the crypto exchange’s stablecoin reserves have dwindled as much as 34% in the past week.

Local Chinese media reported that law enforcement detained at least three Huobi executives. Allegedly, some employees were sent an urgent notification advising them to depart the country at the earliest.

Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, relayed information he alleges came directly from a high-ranking executive at Tron, stating that team members were facing a criminal probe tied to activities associated with Huobi.

Loading Tweet..

DefiLlama data indicates that between Aug. 1 and 7, Huobi’s USDT balances saw a significant decrease of $40 million. As of Monday, the total value locked in Huobi was at $2.4 billion, marking a decline from its $3 billion position at the beginning of the year.

Meanwhile, Nansen reported that Huobi’s net outflows, excluding bitcoin, amounted to $32.9 million in the past 24 hours, a figure representing 1% of the total assets currently held by the exchange.

Loading Tweet..

A Huobi spokesperson denied any allegations of team member arrests, and said the company contacted “all original sources of misinformation” requesting them to retract or correct their statements.

Additionally, they dismissed claims of significant outflows, asserting that the data provided by DefiLlama was not accurate.

“Please check out Nansen, which has the most updated and accurate real-time data, the relevant team is working with DefiLlama to update their data tracking,” they told Blockworks via email.

Separately on Monday, Justin Sun, a member of Huobi’s global advisory board, called on observers to disregard the FUD.

“#TRON and #Huobi will thrive through continuous development,” he wrote. “Trust in our vision and community efforts for a stronger future.”


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (2).png

Research

This reports analyzes the competitive dynamics of the Solana DEX landscape, identifying sustainable moats per protocol. We also find that Raydium (RAY), Orca (ORCA), and Lifinity (LFNTY) are valued very similarly on a P/S basis and what this could mean for Meteroa's (MET) valuation, which is still pre-TGE.

article-image

With $800 million now flowing to creditors, some expect a market boost — yet many remain cautious after years of waiting

article-image

There’s more to do on Solana than memecoins, but the market isn’t seeing it that way

article-image

Galaxy’s Alex Thorn said that the saga, paired with TRUMP and MELANIA, could lead to “further destruction of the memecoin complex”

article-image

Anatoly Yakovenko in 2017 embarked on the technical challenge of solving blockchain’s scalability problem

article-image

Grayscale Investments has historically had a four-stage lifecycle for its products, but there’s an indicator this could be changing

article-image

Brian Quintenz and Jonathan Gould are two recent Cabinet nominees with ties to crypto