Binance, Huobi to support Steem hard fork into Hive; STEEM token price shoots up

Two major crypto exchanges – Binance and Huobi – have said that they will support a planned hard fork of the Steem Steem blockchain, which would result in the new Hive network.

The market for the STEEM token appears to have reacted positively to the news, and is currently up by 180% at around $0.35, according to CoinGecko.

Binance said it will support the hard fork, which is scheduled to take place tomorrow, and will distribute the new hive tokens to steem holders in 1:1 ratio.

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As a result, the exchange is suspending steem deposits and withdrawals from tomorrow and will reopen after the hard fork is complete. Huobi has also announced similar measures.

Members of the Steem community have planned the hard fork in an effort to remove Justin Sun's Steemit Inc. from the group. Sun's Tron Foundation acquired Steemit last month. The move, however, has led to controversies since then.

Most recently, Tron's "hostile takeover" of the Steem network came under the limelight as Tron and Steemit unilaterally enforced a hard fork with the help from top exchanges, including Binance and Huobi, to remain in control of the Steem network.

Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, however, said at the time that the exchange has "no interest in chain governance. We stay neutral."

About Author

Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.