Singapore-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has reported a 100 percent increase in its trading volume in 2018 over the previous year, according to a Cointelegraph report.
While Huobi is one of the top exchanges in the world, being able to double its trading volume during a period in which the crypto industry saw the majority of its value disintegrate, indicates a massive influx of traders in the market.
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Moreover, in a time when the “crypto winter” is forcing most of the blockchain businesses to cut their workforce, Huobi has added hundreds of staffs as the headcount went from 400 in early 2018 to more than 1,300 in 2019, according to its CEO Leon Li. However, reports have surfaced that Huobi is also planning for layoffs.
The exchange has also expanded its global businesses by opening 15 offices in 12 countries.
Last December, Huobi launched a digital asset derivative trading platform called Huobi Derivatives Market (Huobi DM). The platform turned out to be a massive success as in mere one month the volume in the platform touched $12 billion and in the few more days surpassed the $20 billion mark.
Fiat-to-Crypto is Lucrative
As Finance Magnates reported earlier, the exchange has also expanded into the fiat trading industry with the launch of a fiat-to-crypto trading platform.
Huobi is also pushing its business in its key markets – the United States, Japan, and South Korea. The exchange has recently rebranded its US subsidiary from HBUS to Huobi.com and obtained a Money Services Business (MSB) license from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. It has also obtained an operational license in Japan through its merger with BitTrade.
In addition, the company is also planning to issue its own stablecoin in the first half of 2019, FInance Magnates reported earlier.