Media outlets name Justin Sun as Huobi buyer; Tron founder denies rumours
The ultimate beneficiary of About Capital Management, which bought a controlling stake in the Huobi exchange, could be the Tron Foundation founder Justin Sun. The information, citing multiple sources, was reported by journalist Colin Wu.
Exclusive: The real buyer of Huobi is Tron Founder Justin Sun, possibly with the help of SBF. https://t.co/bPMtE2Youe
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 10, 2022
The purchase price could have been $1 billion.
In response to Wu’s inquiry, the Tron founder said he had not participated in the deal. Subsequently, in his account description it was added that he is connected to Huobi.
The personal URL of Justin Sun’s English official Twitter account has been changed to https://t.co/z1KTwluoAh. pic.twitter.com/1UtqyBkDtD
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 10, 2022
About Capital Management was involved in the deal due to concerns by Huobi founder Leon Li that the move could affect his safety amid concerns from Chinese authorities. In turn, Justin Sun did not want to provoke Binance, which backs him, according to sources.
Wu reports that Justin Sun delivered a speech to Huobi employees.
Justin Sun is making a speech to all Huobi employees. He said that the overall work will revolve around Huobi Token HT, but will not return to the Chinese market. (which should only be said to the Chinese government) https://t.co/bdMqeZ7LFM
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 10, 2022
«He said that the overall work would revolve around HT token, but the company will not return to the Chinese market», — the journalist wrote.
Huobi representatives, in ForkLog’s comment, said that Sun joined the exchange’s advisory board. He will participate in the company’s development as an advisor alongside four other representatives from traditional and blockchain companies.
According to a statement on Huobi’s site, the advisory board also includes About Capital Management CEO Ted Chen, Huobi’s co-founder Du Jun, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology vice-president Wang Yang, and Valkyrie Investments CEO Leah Wald.
«The advisory board will aid Huobi Global’s business development and help shape the global expansion roadmap», the company said.
Sun told The Block that the claim he was the real buyer of Huobi is “untrue.” The Tron founder reiterated that he joined the platform’s advisory board.
As Bloomberg reported in August 2022, Li was negotiating the sale of 58% of the stake at a valuation of $2–3 billion.
Among potential buyers were Sun and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. The latter later denied his interest.
In November 2019 Justin Sun and other investors acquired the crypto exchange Poloniex.
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