Huobi Debuts Crypto Brokerage as Its Institutional Arm Grows 400% Since Q3 2019

Major cryptocurrency exchange Huobi is launching its first licensed digital asset brokerage, Huobi Brokerage. Huobi, the fifth-largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume as of press time, will now provide brokerage service to its institutional clients, the firm said in a Jan. 21 press release to Cointelegraph. Huobi Brokerage provides simultaneous access to other exchanges and OTC desks via smart order routing Announcing the news at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, the exchange said that Huobi Brokerage is the first product launched under the Global Institutional Business (GIB), an institutional services-focused division established by Huobi in November 2019. A unique feature about Huobi Brokerage is that the platform connects with other exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) desks, a Huobi’s spokesperson said in an email to Cointelegraph. Specifically, Huobi Brokerage is integrated with other crypto exchanges and OTC platforms via smart order routing technology in order to improve price execution and boost liquidity. Bitcoin and 5 stablecoins are supported at launch According to the announcement, Huobi Brokerage will initially support a total of six cryptocurrencies and stablecoins for block trades at launch.  In fact, the service will initially support Bitcoin (BTC) as the only cryptocurrency in the broad sense, while the rest coins are represented by United States-dollar pegged stablecoins. The list includes major stablecoin Tether (USDT), Paxos Standard (PAX) token, TrueUSD (TUSD), Circle-backed USD Coin (USDC), as well as Huobi’s own stablecoin asset known as HUSD. Meanwhile, support for other major cryptocurrencies including Ether (ETH), XRP, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), EOS, and Litecoin (LTC) is expected to be available on Huobi Brokerage by the end of January 2020, a Huobi representative told Cointelegraph. Huobi saw “first wave of institutional interest” in 2019 as its institutional business has grown 400% since Q3 2019 Ciara Sun, vice president of global business at Huobi Group, noted that institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals will be the major contributors to growth in the crypto economy in 2020. According to the executive, low liquidity is one of the main impediments to widespread adoption. She said: “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.” Speaking about the transformation of the financial markets at Davos, Sun expressed confidence that the industry will mature with growing demand in 2020, while the year of 2019 brought the “first wave of institutional interest.” Since Huobi established the GIB division in November 2019, Huobi’s institutional business reportedly surged 400% to onboard 1,700 institutional clients. Huobi’s solid indicators of growing institutional adoption come against the backdrop of major digital currency asset manager Grayscale Investments recently declaring that it is “clear” that the crypto industry is experiencing institutional adoption.