Crypto Tycoons Bankman-Fried and Sun in Talks to Buy Majority of Huobi Global Exchange

Crypto Tycoons Bankman-Fried and Sun in Talks to Buy Majority of Huobi Global Exchange

 

Leon Li, founder of Cryptocurrency Exchange Huobi Global, is in discussions to sell a majority stake in the exchange platform in a transaction that would put the value of the firm at $3 billion or more, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

 

Leon Li is looking to sell off almost 60% of the exchange platform, and has held preliminary talks with Justin Sun, founder of the Tron blockchain technology network, and FTX, the Crypto Exchange rival founded by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, the report said, citing people aware with the proceedings of the discussions.

 

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In a tweet, Sun denied any participation, he wrote “We have not engaged in any matters related to the Bloomberg report at this moment.”

 

Seychelles-based Crypto Exchange Huobi is one of the world is largest cryptocurrency exchanges with a daily trading volume of over $1 billion, according to data provided by CoinGecko.

 

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If completely successfully, this deal would be one of the biggest ever in the cryptocurrency industry. The slump in the Cryptocurrency Market has forced many of the leading firms in the industry to cut costs and jobs, but this could be the first case that one of those firms sells a majority stake of their company.

 

 

Huobi is current investors, which includes ZhenFund and Sequoia China, were informed regarding Leon Li is decision during a shareholder meeting last month, the report further added.

 

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A deal could be successfully completed as soon as the end of this month, the report outlined. Leon Li is looking for an overall valuation of $2 billion to $3 billion, which means that the 60% or more stake sell off could fetch upward of $1 billion, the report added.

 

FTX Exchange has made a slew of offers to acquire Cryptocurrency companies during the recent market slump, snapping up Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Liquid in April 2022 before agreeing to acquire Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform Bitvo two months later in June 2022. It also has a deal in place to purchase cryptocurrency lending platform BlockFi for up to $240 million.

 

FTX exchange has also been eyeing up to acquire Celsius Network and Voyager Digital, both of which filed for bankruptcy proceedings in July.

 

After the Bloomberg report was published, Huobi's native token HT rose nearly 25% to $5.43, hitting a high of $5.80.

 

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Huobi Global, Tron and FTX Exchange did not immediately respond to requests for comment.