- Binance declines Justin Sun’s offer for Huobi stake.
- Rumors of Huobi’s ties to mainland China deter Binance.
- Sun’s involvement with Huobi remains mysterious.
Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange by volume, has recently declined an offer from Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun to acquire his ownership stake in competitor Huobi, according to an anonymous source familiar with the situation. Binance’s disinterest reportedly stems from rumors surrounding Huobi’s alleged connections to mainland China, which the exchange prefers to avoid.
In a recent CoinDesk TV interview, Sun revealed Huobi’s ambitions to obtain a Hong Kong license and launch a new exchange called Huobi Hong Kong. However, Sun’s involvement with Huobi remains shrouded in mystery. Huobi was acquired by a company called About Capital in October last year. While Sun’s representatives deny his association with About, Huobi confirmed in January that he is a leader within the company.
Following a Bloomberg report suggesting Sun was attempting to sell his Huobi stake, Sun likened the speculation to an April Fool’s joke. The anonymous source indicated that Binance believes Sun holds a majority stake in Huobi.
The proposal was allegedly made directly to Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao within the last week or so. In response to the unfolding story, Sun tweeted, “I must point out that in the past week or so, I have not proposed any offer to [CZ] regarding the purchase of [Huobi], nor have we even discussed Huobi in the past week or so.” A Binance spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
In other news, while regional nations aim to minimize their reliance on the U.S. dollar and undermine the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) sway in the region, China and Malaysia are allegedly pursuing discussions regarding the establishment of an Asian Monetary Fund.
