Major cryptocurrency exchange Huobi continues to expand its global footprint by entering the British Overseas Territory of the British Virgin Islands.
Huobi officially announced on Friday that it has received an investment business license from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of the British Virgin Islands. The approval will allow Huobi to operate a virtual asset exchange under its subsidiary Btuomi Worldwide Limited (BWL).
According to the announcement, BWL plans to offer various crypto trading services including spot trading as well as derivative trading of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
The company has positioned itself as the first digital asset trading platform operator licensed to operate an institutional-grade crypto trading platform for professional and retail investors in the British Virgin Islands.
Huobi Group Chief Financial Officer Lily Zhang added, “We believe this license will have a significant impact on institutional investors, making us the first exchange in the region to offer compliant crypto derivative products and trading services.”
“Many institutional investors in the crypto industry operate out of the British Virgin Islands, so we think there is a huge market opportunity.”
Zhang Huobi has also licensed its distributed ledger technology in Gibraltar. Huobi Group does not have a specific timeframe for when the service will expand to the UK, the CFO told Cointelegraph.
In addition to being a publicly regulated entity in the British Virgin Islands, along with companies such as Alameda Trust and Three Arrows Capital, BWL is a member of the FSC Financial Innovation Sandbox.
According to official FSC records, BWL is the second sandbox participant approved by the FSC alongside Structure Financial, a global trading platform for crypto-based investment and lending. The regulator established a sandbox in 2020 to support innovation in the growing fintech sector and enable businesses to test new products and services.
Related: While the Thai partner was closed, Huobi crypto exchange won licenses in Dubai and New Zealand
“Going forward, we will work closely with British Virgin Islands regulators to develop a suite of licensed commercial products and services and work to promote the development of the cryptocurrency industry in the territory,” Zhang said.
The British Virgin Islands is one of the top destinations for cryptocurrency-related firms. According to data from the PUC’s fourth Global Crypto Hedge Funds Report, the British Virgin Islands has overtaken the United States as the second most popular destination for crypto hedge funds.
In June, a court in the British Virgin Islands ordered the dissolution of Singapore-based Three Arrows Capital Co. According to official information, the organization is registered by FSC as a professional fund.