Huobi Global Buyers Could Be Justin Sun and SBF: New Reports

Over the weekend, Chinese crypto exchange Huobi Global announced that it had been taken over by an investment company, but the real backers of the deal could be a couple of the industry’s most prominent characters.

On Oct. 8, BeInCrypto reported that the controlling shareholders of Huobi Global completed transactions to sell their entire shareholdings to About Capital Management, a Hong Kong-based fund management firm.

It has now been reported that the real buyer of the crypto exchange giant could be TRON founder Justin Sun. On Oct. 10, Chinese blockchain news outlet Wu Blockchain cited “multiple sources” that claimed Sun was the core investor in this fund of mergers and acquisitions.

Wu also reported rumors that FTX CEO and crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried “invested to help Justin Sun.” However, SBF has previously denied any interest in Huobi.

Onboarded to Huobi Advisory Board

On Oct. 10, a tweet also appeared from Sun confirming that he has been appointed as a member of the Global Advisory Board of Huobi Global. The board has been tasked with guiding the company’s business development and strategic roadmap for global expansion.

Additional members of the advisory board included Ted Chen, CEO of About Capital, Du Jun, co-founder of Huobi Global, Wang Yang, Vice President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Leah Wald, CEO of Valkyrie Investments, according to a Huobi announcement.

Wu reported that Sun was present at the delivery site on Oct. 8 and that the price for the takeover was about $1 billion. China’s leading private equity firm Jinglin Assets told the outlet that “About Capital was more of a “bridge” for Justin Sun’s acquisition.”

The move may push Binance, which has previously supported Justin Sun, into the position of a competitor, Wu added.

Sun was seen at Huobi’s event stand at the TOKEN2049 conference in Singapore last month and at the after-party for employees. “Justin Sun and the FTX CFO often communicated together in Singapore to acquire Huobi,” Wu reported.

There has been no official statement from FTX or SBF confirming or denying what is essentially rumors at the moment regarding his involvement.

TRX and HT price reactions

TRON’s native TRX coin has made little movement over the past 24 hours and is currently trading at $0.062. TRX has been trading sideways with the rest of the crypto market over the past few months and is down 73% from its January 2018 all-time high of $0.231.

Huobi’s native token, HT, has spiked over the past three hours, climbing 5% to trade at $4.30 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko. HT has also been flat over the past three months and is down 89% from its May 2021 all-time high.