Huobi making a return to US via new Nevada license

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Hong Kong-based digital currency exchange group Huobi has been granted a license to offer digital currency services in Nevada via a subsidiary, clearing the path for a return to serving the U.S. market.

Subsidiary Huobi Trust Company was awarded the license from the Nevada Financial Institutions Division of the Department of Business and Industry, allowing the firm to operate digital currency services across the U.S. within the bounds of the regulatory framework in the state.

According to an official filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, this could see the firm opening up custodian services in 2021, serving institutional clients with digital currency holdings.

“The board of directors of the Company is pleased to announce that Huobi Trust Company (the ‘Huobi Trust’), a company incorporated in the State of Nevada, the United States and an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, was recently issued with a Trust Company License by the Financial Institutions Division of the Department of Business and Industry in Nevada, the United States, to engage in the trust company business within the meaning of Chapter 669 of the Nevada Revised Statutes and the rules and regulations thereunder.”

The move follows the earlier decision of the exchange to withdraw from the U.S. market in December 2019. At the time, Huobi flagged concerns about the changing regulatory picture in the country. Now, with a regulatory framework in place, the decision to secure a new license could see the exchange returning to U.S. operations in the coming months.

Despite the position in Nevada, several other notable digital currency operators continue to avoid the U.S., citing concerns over regulatory uncertainty at a state and federal level.

Reported as a “cautious comeback,” the steps from Huobi will be welcomed by others in the digital currency community keen to return to serving customers from within the United States when the regulatory picture allows.

See also: CoinGeek Live panel on Regulation of Digital Assets & Digital Asset Businesses