New reports claimed that Li Lin is aiming for an exit from the company he helped found years ago. The executive owns a majority stake at Huobi, with over 50%.
- The blockchain journalist Colin Wu took it to Twitter earlier today to inform that Lin has decided to liquidate his majority stake in the cryptocurrency exchange, indicating that he “currently holds more than 50% of the shares.”
EXCLUSIVE: Huobi founder Li Lin is looking to sell his stake in Huobi. Li Lin currently holds more than 50% of the shares. The second largest shareholder of Huobi is Sequoia China. Huobi’s revenue plummeted after it wiped out all Chinese users and is laying off staff. https://t.co/67KOlW9aT9
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 1, 2022
- Huobi is among the largest digital asset trading platforms and was well-positioned within the top three in terms of volume and user base until recently. Wu even said that Huobi was the second-most profitable exchange last year, with over $1 billion in profits.
- However, the firm experienced severe drawbacks last year when the Chinese clampdown forced it to close shop, which harmed its revenue massively.
- The market-wide corrections in the past eight months or so have not helped either. As previously reported, Huobi joined other crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase, CryptoCom, Bybit, etc., and said it will lay off a significant portion of its employees.
- According to Wu, the Chinese branch of Sequoia is the second-largest shareholder of Huobi after Lin.
- Shortly following Wu’s report on Twitter, the crypto community started speculating on who could step up and acquire Lin’s stake in Huobi. Many joked that FTX’s CEO – Sam Bankman-Fried – will be the first to opt in, given the recent shopping spree initiated by him and his company.