Huobi Crypto-Exchange is Freezing all American Accounts In November

On 2 November 2019, Huobi, the Singapore-based Cryptocurrency Exchange, announced that it would remove US user accounts from its trading platform. This process is aimed at shutting down people that are violating their user agreements.

According to a post on their official website, Huobi said that their user agreements expressly prohibits US residents from using their platform per the US crypto assets laws and regulations

The announcement follows an ongoing gradual depreciation of US-controlled accounts that is expected to continue until all accounts are frozen by the second week of November. 

Huobi Will Give Remaining Users a Grace Period of Two Weeks until 13 November

Huobi will allow remaining users to withdraw funds from their accounts and refund their Huobi Point Cards. In their announcement, Huobi stated:

“Please return your borrowed fund in the margin with trading and withdraw all your assets balance. Kindly approach customer support for assistance to convert all your residual assets below the minimum withdrawal amount and unused cards to BTC/USDT before withdrawing.”

Users Can Migrate To HBUS

Huobi made an arrangement with HBUS to allow interested users to swap out their HB10 balance into the underlying token via the Huobi Global WEB interface. HBUS is the San Francisco-based company in partnership with Huobi. 

Users can open an account and transfer their funds to HBUS, a US regulatory-compliant platform with a variety of trade tokens, 24/7 customer support services, and low trading fees.

US Regulations are Stiffening Crypto-Exchange Companies’ Entry into the US Crypto Market

Many exchanges have been having problems with US accounts due to grey areas in US cryptocurrency regulations, which make it hard for crypto start-ups to operate in the country.

Meanwhile, Huobi continues to expand operations into other regions like Asia and Europe, which have established clearer guidelines on trading cryptocurrencies and digital assets. 

Huobi recently the company announced plans to expand into Turkey by rolling out a fiat gateway in the country. The move could benefit local investors by enabling them to access more cryptocurrencies.