Huobi closes crypto derivatives as part of wind-down for Chinese traders

By shutting down derivatives trading on Huobi, the company takes one more step toward closing its operations in China.

Major cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has ended futures and other derivatives trading in mainland China today, as planned.

Earlier this month, cryptocurrency exchange announced on its website that it will settle all futures, contracts, and other derivatives activities for all Chinese consumers today, as part of the larger plan to cease operations in the country.

According to previous announcements, Huobi, China’s largest exchange, will today completely shut down futures, contracts and other derivatives functions for all Chinese users. https://t.co/TNx4CvrzJ7

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 29, 2021

Huobi was the first exchange to announce that it would withdraw from mainland China due to the Chinese government’s persistent refusal to lift its Bitcoin ban. On Sept. 24, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in China held a shareholder meeting, at which time the company’s shareholders unanimously decided to leave China and withdraw their operations.

As reported by Cointelegraph, Huobi Group co-founder Du Jun has vowed to secure all crypto assets for Chinese accounts before permanently shutting down by Dec. 31, 2021.

Following Huobi’s lead, other cryptocurrency-related platforms and firms such as crypto mining pools and mining equipment manufacturers adopted the same strategy. This list includes Binance, BTC.com, and Bitmain, among others. CoinEx crypto exchange announced its withdrawal from China, and Renrenbit, set up by the “OTC king” of China Zhao Dong, is also shutting down operations.

The exodus is the result of a government effort that began in late September, when 10 Chinese authorities, including the Ministry of Public Security and the Supreme People’s Court, as well as the country’s main bank, announced a blanket ban on cryptocurrency trading.

Speaking at the Code Conference in Los Angeles in late September, Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, thinks that crypto is on the verge of eroding China’s Communist Party’s power. As a result, the government’s crypto ban is set to continue.