Cryptocurrency institutional business is expected to explode in 2020 and crypto exchanges are preparing to take advantage of the oncoming opportunities. Huobi, a popular crypto exchange based in Singapore is one such platform that expects to see a rise in institutional investments towards cryptocurrency.
Back in November 2019, the exchange launched Global Institutional Business (GIB) arm to cater to this interest specifically. As the name suggests, the GIB is mandated with launching products targeted at institutional investors.
On Tuesday, Huobi announced the first product under the GIB arm to be launched – the Huobi Brokerage. It is a digital asset brokerage platform through which Huobi hopes to offer digital asset trading products and services to institutional clients and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs).
The new service was announced by Ciara Sun, Vice President of Global Business at Huobi Group at the ongoing World Economic Forum held in Davos Switzerland on Tuesday.
“There’s an industry-wide consensus that institutional investors and HNWIs will be the major contributors of growth for the crypto economy in 2020 and beyond, but barriers like low liquidity and a lack of asset enhancement products are stalling widespread adoption,” Sun said adding that “by introducing institutional-grade products and liquidity solutions that cater to the needs of institutions and eliminate existing barriers, we’re aiming to help drive the entire crypto economy forward.”
In a press release published on the day of the announcement, Huobi described the new service as an addition to a growing suite of innovative products within the Huobi Group portfolio. The service is already live with support for OTC services among other high liquidity channels. As of launch, the Huobi Brokerage supports trades in the following cryptocurrencies: BTC, USDT, HUSD, PAX, TUSD, and USDC. However, in the press release, the exchange group revealed that ETH, EOS, BCH, LTC, and XRP will be added within this first quarter.
“Huobi Brokerage leverages advanced trading algorithms and smart order routing (SOR) to provide institutional clients with access to high-quality liquidity pools, competitive prices, a regulated fiat channel, and an all-in-one solution for OTC trading. Through the platform, clients can access real-time trade quotes and instant price locks, as well as support for high-volume block trades across major cryptocurrencies and stablecoins,” the release noted.
The bet for the launch of an institutional arm for Huobi may be paying off according to its release announcement in which it revealed that since the launch of the GIB, more than 1,700 institutions have signed on as clients which represent more than 400% growth in less than three months. In the three months that GIB has been in operation, it has launched offices in major cities such as London, Singapore and Hong Kong.
“2019 brought the first wave of institutional interest but 2020 is when we expect to see the industry mature with growing demand,” Sun said expressing optimism in the future of the crypto markets. “As we enter the next phase of crypto, Huobi is taking an active role in setting new standards for institutional and retail clients alike.”
