Huobi launches a token, "but it's not ICO"
Huobi, previously one of the largest crypto exchage in the world, announced the release of its own tokens according to the Ethereum ERC20 standard.
The release is scheduled for January 23 with a limited offer of 500 million Huobi Token (HT) tokens . According to the announcement, 300 million HT will be sold to users within 15 days, the remaining 40% of tokens will be used to work on the platform, incentives for the team and encourage users.
Representatives Huobi said that the launch of the tokens "is not the original offer of coins (ICO)."
Instead, 300 million HT will be sold at a discount for users who purchase the Huobi Pro package, which uses Tether (USDT), a token linked to the US dollar. Details of the packages for filing have not yet been disclosed, but the company stated that there will be a maximum limit for purchases per user, and the minimum order will be 100 HT.
According to Leon Lee, the founder of the Huobi Group, the news marks the last step Huobi took to recover after the crypto-exchange has been seriously affected by the persecution by the Chinese government. Since then, he has moved to the over-the-counter (OTC) trading model and is aiming to work with foreign markets.
Lee said in an interview:
"We closed trading services on September 15 and resumed trading on November 1 in 2017. The volume of trading on November 1 was four to five percent of what was on September 15. The influence of the regulator was really significant."
In fact, thanks to the new issue, Huobi will be able to collect service fees, increasing the level of user interest, Lee said.
Representatives of the company reported:
"For example, if you purchase a package of 1'000 HT, it will cost only USDT 990, and you will get 1'000 HT for free. HT can be used to compensate trade fees."
The ultimate goal, according to Lee, is to turn HT into an asset that will unite Huobi users in Japan, South Korea and the US in the future, as the company is actively expanding abroad.
While business registration in the US is expected to take longer, Huobi plans to open new businesses in Japan and South Korea in March this year.
Meanwhile, HT will also be available for trade, since crypto-exchange will offer trading pairs with USDT, BTC and ETH for their own tokens. Turning to the potential fears of price volatility, Huobi will buy HT tokens at a market price every quarter, charging 20% profit for this period.
Li said that the purchased funds will be stored on air as a reserve, in the Huobi Investor Protection Fund, which will be available for viewing to the public.