Justin Sun hopes HTX rebrand will help exchange keep pace with rivals' global expansion

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi, which launched its new international brand HTX on Wednesday, aims to apply for more licenses in more jurisdictions over the next decade as it continues its global drive, Justin Sun said today.

Sun, who styles himself as a global advisor to Huobi, said at a media briefing at Token 2049 in Singapore that HTX will be positioned as Huobi’s international brand that aims to serve its English-speaking user base.

Huobi aims to grow to become more than a “Chinese-dominated” exchange, according to Sun. He said the exchange has already obtained seven licenses globally.

“We collaborate with [governments in] Lithuania, Dubai, Australia, Latin American countries, including Argentina and Brazil, to launch the crypto exchange [business] in those regions in a compliant way,” Sun said.

“It’s very hard for foreigners, Westerners, to pronounce ‘Huobi’... It doesn’t make any sense to them,” Sun said, explaining that the word Huobi means fire and coin in Chinese. “That’s why we rebranded as HTX for international branding.”

Huobi, however, remains a brand name for Chinese-speaking regions, according to Sun.

Global ambitions

Huobi has launched two major international campaigns in the past but these were not “as successful” as those staged by other China-born exchanges that also tried to go global, Sun said.

Sun said that Binance, for example, “also comes from China but succeeded big in globalization” — in large part due to better branding. 

Sun also pointed out that Huobi has encountered “zero incidents” since its establishment in 2013 and said the team is highly selective when it comes to listing a new tokens.

Going forward, however, HTX plans to engage more with users to hold votes on which crypto projects should be listed on the exchange, with winners listed, Sun said, adding that this constitutes “democratizing” the listing process.