Huobi.com, the United States-based partner of Singapore-headquartered crypto exchange Huobi, is launching fiat-crypto trading services, with initial support for three USD-crypto trading pairs. The development was revealed in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 5.
Huobi.com is operated by HBUS, which launched as a strategic partner of Huobi Group — operator of the flagship Huobi Global crypto exchange — via a newly created San Francisco-based company “HBUS Holdco, Inc.” last June. Following a rebranding campaign and adoption of the Huobi brand name, HBUS.com migrated to Huobi.com this January.
Huobi.com’s expansion beyond crypto-crypto transactions comes as other leading crypto exchanges are increasingly rolling out support for international fiat currencies — notably Binance, which launched a fiat-crypto platform in Uganda last fall, as part of a partially disclosed roadmap to launch a suite of crypto-fiat exchanges worldwide.
Banking institutions, for their part, are also beginning to facilitate fiat-crypto conversions in-house, as with the recent move from Switzerland-based Falcon Private Bank.
According to the press release, Huobi.com has launched U.S. dollar (USD) trading pairs with major cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Tether (USDT), as well as support of USD deposits and withdrawals (with a minimum $100).
Fiat support is reportedly facilitated via a partnership with U.S. financial institution Prime Trust — a Nevada-registered chartered trust company that specializes in custodian and escrow services for fiat transactions and crypto assets. Huobi.com users that wish to trade fiat-crypto will be required to open a custodial account with Prime Trust, which notably requires the completion of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) identity verification checks.
As reported, the Huobi Group has recently revealed plans to launch its own stablecoin this year. In October, the platform had launched support for four USD-backed stablecoins — which are designed to experience less price volatility than non-fiat collateralized crypto assets. Huobi also launched an aggregator solution for the four stablecoins later that month.
Notwithstanding unconfirmed reports of staff layoffs at the start of December, Huobi continues to pursue overseas expansion, most recently reopening its Japanese platform following an acquisition of local FSA-licensed crypto exchange BitTrade.
Huobi Global is currently ranked 17th largest crypto exchange on CoinMarketCap by adjusted traded volume, seeing around $232 million in trades over the 24 hours before press time. Huobi (HBUS) is ranked 138th, with about $364,000 in trades over the same period.