Justin Sun Confirms Advisory Role in Huobi, Denies Buying It

Just a week after Huobi Global revealed a change in shareholder structure, Tron founder Justin Sun’s role as a shadow owner of the crypto exchange has emerged. However, he has refuted claims about a buyout. In fact, Sun’s role has been limited to that of a global advisor.

The development follows reports of Huobi founder Leon Li looking to sell his majority stake for more than $1 billion, valuing the exchange at $3 billion.

Justin Sun’s foray into Huobi

According to the latest statement, Huobi’s majority shareholder Li reached an agreement with Hong Kong-based investment firm About Capital Management to sell his entire stake in the exchange. About Capital’s buyout vehicle will control a majority stake in Huobi Global. Interestingly, Justin Sun was said to be the lead investor in the M&A fund.

First reported by prominent Chinese crypto journalist Colin Wu, the move implied that Sun was the actual buyer of the stake, which is reportedly worth $1 billion. The controversial executive, on the other hand, said the claim is “wrong”.

Confirming the same, Sun he tweeted,

“I am extremely honored to be appointed to Huobi Global’s Global Advisory Board and to work with industry leaders, academics and policymakers to help guide and grow this innovative, vibrant and resilient organization in its latest chapter of global expansion. Full sail ahead.”

The founder of Tron has yet to deny his role in About Capital. Huobi, for example, has disclosed the terms of the agreement with the latter.

Following the purchase of a majority stake, Huobi formed a five-member global advisory board consisting of its co-founder Du Jun, Wang Yang, vice president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Valkyrie Investment CEO Leah Wald, About Capital founder Ted Chen, and Tron’s Justin Sun. The board is tasked with guiding the exchange’s global expansion.

Meanwhile, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was also speculated to have bought a stake in Huobi along with Sun. However, the executive has denied any involvement in his latest tweetwhich simply said: “we are not participating yet”.

not yet involved https://t.co/fiIyxTVEiq

— SBF (@SBF_FTX) October 10, 2022

Huobi Roadmap

After the transaction, Huobi plans to implement a series of new international brand promotion and business expansion initiatives. This included the formation of the global strategic advisory board. In the future, the crypto exchange will double with the “injection of sufficient capital in margin fund and risk provision”. Measures to increase competitiveness will also be a key area of ​​focus.

Founded in 2013, Huobi Global fueled China’s crypto boom before regulators declared all crypto transactions illegal in 2021. To comply with Beijing, Huobi exited the domestic market.