A Seychelles based cryptocurrency exchange Huobi could receive crypto trading licence in Hong Kong within the span of six to twelve months, Huobi advisor and Tron founder Justin Sun said in an interview on Friday.
The exchange submitted an application to become a virtual asset service provider (VASP) last week, he said, which includes an 18-month grace period in which regulators can approve or deny the application, but Sun perceives and predicts that a decision could come within the span of a year.
“The details of the regulation will come out in the next 18 months, for example, how to comply with customer withdrawals [and] anti money laundering requirements,” Sun said. “In the next 18 months we have a grace period so Huobi Hong Kong can operate in Hong Kong, take customers, get our banking and serve our customers.”
The exchange recently relocated its headquarters from Singapore to Hong Kong in hopes of launching Huobi Hong Kong after the city said it is looking to become a virtual asset hub as soon as this summer.
While it’s unknown if any other Asia-based crypto exchanges have applied for a similar license, Sun said he could see five to six other players also making the move, including OKX, Gate.io, Bitget and ByBit.
When questioned about possibly competing with Coinbase and Kraken in Canada, Sun said Huobi has no plans to operate in the country given its strict regulatory requirements.
“I’ll work on all the friendly jurisdictions first,” Sun said, referring to the Caribbean, Hong Kong, and Japan in general.