Hassan Maishera
Huobi, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in China, has now banned traders from China and the United Kingdom from using its derivatives offerings. This latest development comes after Binance faced some backlash in the UK and the recent bans in China.
Huobi disables derivative trading in China and the UK
Crypto exchange Huobi has announced earlier today that it would no longer be offering derivative services to traders in China and the United Kingdom. The crypto exchange has updated its User Agreement to shut out traders from the two countries.
The cryptocurrency exchange said its Chinese traders would be able to access the platform and use it for spot trading. However, derivative trading will no longer be available to them. Colin Wu, one of the leading cryptocurrency journalists in Asia, reported this earlier today.
He tweeted that "Huobi, China's largest exchange, updated its user agreement to prohibit users in China, the United Kingdom and other places from using derivatives to trade."
Some of the other leading countries banned from using the derivative services include the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, and Israel. Huobi said the names of the countries on its list are subject to change according to changes in policies and product types available.
This latest development comes a few days after the cryptocurrency exchange reduced the amount of leverage available to Chinese traders from 12x to 5x. New users in China are also banned from accessing derivatives.
Huobi is taking these measures due to the latest crackdown on cryptocurrency activities in China. The People's Bank of China has asked banks and payment companies in the country to dissociate from handling cryptocurrency transactions. Some banks have already issued warnings to their customers, asking them to desist from crypto transactions.
In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority told Binance it doesn't have permission to undertake any regulated activity in the region. This could have tempted Huobi to suspend derivative trading for its UK clients.
