Leon Li, the founder of China cryptocurrency exchange Huobi, is seeking to sell a 60% stake in the company that would value the business at US$3 billion, according to a Bloomberg News report that cited people familiar with the matter.
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Fast facts
- Justin Sun, the founder of blockchain developer Tron, and crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto exchange were among those in talks with Huobi, Bloomberg said, citing unnamed people familiar with the talks.
- FTX declined to comment, according to the Bloomberg report. Sun said on Twitter: “We have not engaged (in) any matters related to the Bloomberg story at this moment.”
- Li discussed the plans at a July shareholder meeting, and the deal could close as early as the end of August, seeking a valuation of as much as $3 billion for the group, according to the Bloomberg report.
- After Beijing outlawed crypto trading last year, Huobi stopped serving Chinese users and expanded into overseas markets including Latin America.
- Huobi is applying for a cryptocurrency exchange license in Hong Kong, while seeking to establish its headquarters in Singapore. It closed its office in Thailand.
- The Huobi token HT rose more than 18% in the past 24 hours to trade at $5.275 as of 5 p.m. in Hong Kong, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
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