According to an April 10 tweet from Justin Sun, the de facto owner of cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global, Huobi will generate $150 million in revenue, $120 million in expenses and $30 million in net income in the first quarter of 2023. During the quarter, Sun said "substantial steps were taken to reduce costs and improve efficiency." For the second quarter of 2023, he expects the exchange to bring in $187 million in revenue and $76 million in expenses, for a net income of $110 million.
Huobi remains one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume until 2021 when mainland Chinese users start to exit. Its market share subsequently declined from 19% in 2020 to an estimated 2.2% in the fourth quarter of 2022. Claiming to be Sun, Huobi Global’s “advisor” reportedly purchased 100% of the exchange from its co-founders in November 2022 through his entity, About Capital.
Earlier this year, Huobi Global reportedly laid off 20 percent of its staff and cut employment benefits as part of a restructuring effort. On March 10, a big event happened to the exchange’s native token, Huobi Token, suffered a flash crash that saw its price drop by more than 90% in a matter of hours.
The token has recovered most of its losses; however, a leading user with the Twitter handle Lantian666 claims they lost $4 million due to margin liquidations on HT during the flash crash. Lantian666 stated that although Sun claimed that all users affected by the accident will be compensated, they have not yet received full compensation from Huobi.
