The cryptocurrency exchange Binance rejected founder Justin Sun’s offer to buy his stake in the Huobi trading platform. According to sources cited by CoinDesk.
According to the publication, Binance was not interested in the deal because of rumours that Huobi has links to mainland China. In February, the exchange, in which Sun held a stake, filed a licence application in Hong Kong.
According to a source, Binance was convinced that Sun owned a controlling stake in Huobi. The offer itself was made directly to Changpeng Zhao, the head of the largest crypto exchange, about a week ago.
Sun soon after the report denied the rumors.
We have always regarded @binance as one of our most important partners and will continue to work closely with them on all levels. However, I must point out that in the past week or so, I have not proposed any offer to @cz_binance regarding the purchase of @HuobiGlobal , nor have… https://t.co/S1aXSlZoNv
— H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨 (@justinsuntron) April 5, 2023
“We have always regarded Binance as one of our most important partners and will continue to work closely with them on all levels. However, I must note that in the past week or so I have not made any proposals to Changpeng Zhao regarding the purchase of Huobi,” he wrote.
Binance representatives declined to comment on the situation.
On April 1, Sun wrote on his Twitter that the information about selling his stake in Huobi was merely an “April Fool’s joke”.
In October 2022, Huobi agreed to the sale of a controlling stake to About Capital Management, a Hong Kong-based investment company. The parties did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
According to reports, Sun was the ultimate beneficiary of the purchase. The entrepreneur denied these statements, explaining that he had become a member of the exchange’s advisory board. He also admitted that he is a major holder of HT tokens.
In April 2023, Huobi and Gala Games developed a compensation plan for those affected by the GALA incident.