Huobi has made its plans to enter the US market crystal clear. Its new trading platform, known as HBUS, went live last week. The new marketplace is now accepting registrations from US residents. The “official” launch will occur on July 10.
HBUS Prepares to Open its Doors
While it is good to see more cryptocurrency exchanges in the US, success is never guaranteed. For Huobi’s new HBUS venture, the uphill battle will be quite steep. Entering the US market is very difficult for any cryptocurrency firm, mainly because individual states have their own regulations and legislation on the books. Complying with all of those requirements requires a lot of time, money, and effort.
Interested users can pre-register for the platform and start depositing select cryptocurrencies at this time. Bitcoin and Ethereum are supported at this stage, yet it remains to be seen if any other currencies will make their way to HBUS as well. It is to be expected that altcoins will be supported at some point, as virtually all other exchanges offer Bitcoin-Ethereum trading already.
Customers who sign up and deposit funds to HBUS need to keep in mind that actual trading and processing of withdrawals will not commence until July 10. This initial pre-registration period is a good way for Huobi to gauge how popular its US-based platform will be. Assuming this venture is successful, it may even bring some competition to other big names such as Coinbase and Gemini.
It is quite interesting to note that Huobi was originally founded in China. While its headquarters are located in Singapore, Huobi has been quite vocal about expanding to the United States specifically. Over the past few years, Huobi has broken ground in Brazil and Canada, further confirming that the expansion is still ongoing. Offering similar services in Europe is not part of the current plan, it seems.
Cryptocurrency is a rather hot commodity in the United States these days. Even though there is no regulation in place just yet, the appeal of Bitcoin and various altcoins cannot be overstated. As such, it is only natural that new companies are looking to enter this market despite the uphill battle they will face. Demand for cryptocurrencies is apparently on the rise across the US; thus, more liquidity is needed.
Regulation-wise, HBUS may have bitten off a bit more than the company can chew. Although the firm has acknowledged it will comply and be transparent at all times, adhering to the country’s guidelines will not be easy by any means. Especially with the SEC cracking down on any wrongdoings, there are plenty of concerns to take into account.
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