Bankruptcy Rumors Rise As Huobi Exchange Suffers Drop In Balances And Web Traffic

Not long ago, Huobi was one of the top crypto exchanges in the world. At its peak, it was processing over $2 billion in trades per day and ranked third in total volume. These days, Huobi seems to be losing steam. Recent reports and data shared by Willy Woo, a crypto expert on Twitter, indicate that the exchange’s transaction volume and web traffic appear to have suffered a plunge in recent months.

Huobi Exchange Sees Major Drop in Balances

Crypto balances held on the Huobi exchange have decreased by over 90% since late 2020. This means users have withdrawn a huge portion of their crypto holdings from the exchange.

According to Woo, the Bitcoin reserves, for instance, are down from 410,000 BTC in 2022 to now only 26,000 BTC left. Data from CoinGlass corroborates this and shows Huobi now holds around 16,400 BTC on its balance sheet. 

ETH and USDT balances have also been tanking, with less. Woo notes that these collaterals have been draining since 2020. “Huobi exchange looking like it’s a slow-moving train wreck, nearing its final throws,” Woo captioned in his tweet. 

A lot can be learned about an exchange’s liquidity just by looking at the amount of balance it has. When there is a large number of cryptocurrencies held on an exchange, this indicates that there is a great deal of liquidity for buying and selling tokens. On the other hand, when there is a relatively small amount of cryptocurrency kept on an exchange, there is a smaller pool of liquidity.

Web Traffic Also Nosediving

While sharing screenshots from SimilarWeb, an analytics platform for web traffic, Woo noted that web traffic and engagement for the crypto exchange have also plummeted. Their data shows that visits to Huobi.com declined from over 30 million in March to just over 2 million in May.

Regulatory issues and increasing competition in the crypto exchange space seem to have taken a toll on Huobi as the exchange has been forced out of several countries in recent months. 

HT token struggles as exchange reserves plummet | Source: HTUSD on TradingView.com

Last month, it was reported that the crypto exchange received an order from the Malaysian Securities Commission to cease operations in Malaysia. The exchange’s exit from the Malaysian market seemed to have put a dent in its number of users, as Malaysia is one of the most crypto-popular countries in Asia, with many as 23% of Malaysians owning or using crypto as of 2023.

“Huobi’s top web traffic is now via Russia, India, Korea, and Ukraine. It’s been forced to shut down in many jurisdictions due to non-compliance,” Woo explained.

According to Coinmarketcap, Huobi is currently ranked 14th in terms of traffic, liquidity, and trading volumes. To turn things around, the exchange must double down on compliance, improve its platform, reignite marketing efforts, build new partnerships, and give users reasons to return to their exchange.