Huobi Global Exchange Review

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Huobi Global Exchange Rating Analysis

Huobi is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges based and catering to Asian audiences, having operated in the space since 2013. It has recently made some branding adjustments, and today its major offering is Huobi Global, its global crypto exchange offering an inviting platform to trade cryptocurrency - with a wide support for many altcoins and a large variety of stablecoins, alongside its own invention - HUSD, a USD-backed stablecoin. Huobi also has a token - Huobi Token, or HT - which they try to market as a utility token and are working hard to promote usage in it, for competitions, fee discounts, voting on certain matters and more.

Huobi's User Experience is exceptional when compared to other altcoin exchanges, although not perfect. The website itself is easy to navigate and strikes a nice balance between functional, visually pleasing and elegant; The customer service surprised us, in a good way - the live chat representative became available very quickly and did their best to answer our questions. However, they still have some things to improve, mainly revise descriptions of some sections i.e Fees to make them more understandable and consequently reduce support tickets.

Huobi's performance is average, with almost all points in this category deducted due to the many allegations that Huobi allows wash trading on its platform in order to inflate volume numbers; Nevertheless, they do manage to attract significant volumes to their platform and many of the trading pairs they offer see high trading activity compared to other exchanges.

In the trust factor, Huobi receives a favorable score - although we do have a few concerns. Firstly, it is incorporated and operated from Singapore, where crypto regulations are advanced and promote blockchain startups. Second, Huobi does provide users with multiple ways to safeguard their accounts, although not enough: while 2-factor authentication is available using both SMS and Authenticator apps, the platform does not require any special confirmation if the account is logged into from an unfamiliar IP address or location, and there is no option to whitelist addresses for asset withdrawal, allowing funds to be sent to any address input.

Huobi was never hacked, even though they do present a lucrative target for attackers, and we believe the exchange takes these threats seriously and does everything in their power to shield the exchange from hacks. Is also worth mentioning that Huobi does store user funds in cold storage to restrict access to them.

To conclude, Huobi Global has managed to build a successful exchange platform, operating in the space for a long time with its reputation steadilty increasing. The exchange offers a wide variety of coins to trade across many markets, and many users choose to place their funds and trust with the company, due to their proven track record, their impressive team and their lucrative features outside the score of regular exchanges. While we do not agree with some of the business choices Huobi has made such as minting an exchange token, our rating remains impartial and Huobi certainly deserves a high score in the ultra-competitive crypto exchange landscape.

Huobi Global Exchange Review, Trading Fees, Deposit and Markets

24h Trading Volume

30,045.273 BTC
Huobi Global Total Trading Pairs

N/A
Huobi Global Margin Trading

Yes
Huobi Global Deposit fees

Free
Huobi Global Fiat Deposit

No
Accepted Payment Method

Crypto to Crypto, Crypto to FIAT
Huobi Global Native token

true
Native token smart contract

Huobi Token
Huobi Global Trading Markets
Huobi Global Stablecoins trading

Huobi Global Withdrawals

Daily Withdrawal Limit

depending on currency and account type
Huobi Global Withdraw fees

Depending on currency
Huobi Global Withdraw fees discount

None
Proof of Reserves

N/A

Huobi Global Overview

Huobi, founded and established by Jun Du in September of 2013, is a digital currency exchange or platform that was founded in China. Their headquarters is based in Singapore today and they have offices in a few other countries or jurisdictions. A Huobi exchange review reveals that this cryptocurrency exchange serves millions of users in 130+ countries. They offer 190+ cryptocurrency pairs and access to just short of 400 markets.
A Huobi exchange review also reveals that Huobi was once, at an accumulative turnover in excess of 1.2 trillion dollars (USD), the biggest digital asset exchange in the world with an almost 50% market share. This was before the Chinese government banned Bitcoin exchanges in September 2017, prompting Huobi to halt Bitcoin withdrawals as well as Yuan-to-Bitcoin trading. This negatively impacted Huobi and its customers – leading to substantial losses. This is the reason why Huobi China only exists today as a research and blockchain consulting platform.

The impact of the Chinese government’s decision to ban Bitcoin exchanges could be felt across the globe – as it negatively impacted crypto prices. However, digital currency exchanges based in China undoubtedly suffered the most, including Huobi. A Huobi exchange review reveals that the impact of this ban and prior controversies are probably the primary reasons for Huobi’s drop in rankings. One such controversy involved the depositing of crypto funds within the wrong wallets (September 2014). Another controversy involved the decision by Huobi and OKCoin to invest the equivalent of a $150 million of idle user funds in what is described as “wealth-management products” (August 2017).

Huobi is still ranked within the top 20 cryptocurrency exchanges by volume today, but much lower down the list than what was previously the case. In 2019, Huobi has been making clear efforts to reclaim more of the market. They have recently announced the launch of an OTC desk for institutional investors. On 22nd May, 2019, they ran a special “Bitcoin Pizza Day” promotion (commemorating the day that Laszlo Hanyecz purchased two pizzas for 10k BTC, back when a single bitcoin was worth only three cents). This promotion included discounted BTC, giveaways, and the launch of their new Reserve Right Token (RSR) stablecoin. This promotion caused a boost in the price of Huobi Token (HT) but it remains to be seen whether this will result in any long-term improvements of the platform’s overall trading volume and popularity.
Huobi Global has also joined in the IEO trend with its FastTrack launch platform. This platform was originally branded as Prime Lite but was renamed within weeks. It’s hard to say whether this was due to controversy over the ThunderCore IEO, or unrelated reasons.

Huobi focuses on customer security and safety and a reliable and secure platform, wherefore it adapted special security procedures. It uses offline cold storage, multi-layer verification processes and collaboration with Goldman Sachs and industry specialists.

Trading fees at Huobi amount to 0.2% while withdrawal fees and minimum depend on the currency and account type (unverified, verified). Huobi supports fiat currencies and has special regulations for the withdrawal and deposit of USD. Furthermore, it offers a VIP membership that comes with a VIP fee schedule. The higher the VIP membership level is, the lower the fees get. Unlike others, the level does not depend on volume traded but has to be purchased before with Huobi Tokens. For payment, Huobi accepts various payment methods, including Bank account, Paypal, SWIFT, PayNOW, etc.

The trading platform is simple and straightforward and offers leverage trading (customers need to sign an additional agreement). Additionally, it exists as a mobile app and uses charts from trading view. Unlike others, the trading platform shows the statistics of coin and informs the trader about the coin.

Next, to the main trading platform, Huobi also offers two complimentary ones; HADAX and OTC. While HADAX (Huobi Autonomous Digital Asset Exchange) is more for professional traders, the OTC section focuses on certified merchants that want rather anonymously to move large quantities of cryptocurrency.

Outstanding at Huobi is the customer support that manages inquiries fast and efficient on a 24/7 basis.

Huobi Global IEO launchpad

IEO	Start date		End date	Fundraising
Newton Project	Jul 01, 2018	-	Apr 16, 2019	$2.2M
Top Network	Mar 26, 2019	-	Mar 26, 2019	N/A
ThunderCore	May 09, 2019	-	May 09, 2019	$500K
Reserve Rights	May 22, 2019	-	May 22, 2019	$3M