In the interview, Justin Sun analyzed the current situation of the cryptocurrency market, revealed Huobi’s procedure for listing new memecoins, and explained why the crypto market has grown too big for any single exchange to serve it properly.
A new narrative in the industry is gaining traction, and the cryptocurrency market has shown clear signs of recovery.
Last year in 2022, was the year crypto came crashing down to Earth, with a string of incidents such as the collapses of Terra and FTX, plunging investor confidence.
After a promising first quarter in 2023, the cryptocurrency industry did not continue its strong momentum and entered a consolidation phase after April. Some believe that the bear market drags on, while others see it as a temporary market correction.
“I think the market has recovered a lot since six months ago,” said Justin Sun. “Six months ago, we had FTX, Celsius, Genesis, DCG, it seemed like all companies went bankrupt, or had this kind of bad crisis. But after six months, I think we have recovered from the bottom. Right now, I think we are still suffering from some of the impact six months ago. For example, recently, Celsius withdrew a very large amount of Ethereum (ETH) from the market, and we also see Jump Trading being investigated by regulators. So that’s why I think we probably need another six months to digest what happened six months ago.”
In fact, in response to the collapse of centralized institutions like FTX, centralized exchanges (CEX) have implemented a standardized reserve-proof system to restore market confidence. Huobi, Binance, OKX, and most major exchanges are releasing their Proof of Reserves reports monthly. Huobi has been collaborating with Fireblocks, BitGo, and other crypto custody providers to offer self-custody wallets to its traders and enhance its transparency.
According to Justin Sun, thanks to the current market value being so low and the emergence of a new narrative, the cryptocurrency market could regain market strength and recover user confidence.
“I think blue chip tokens, coins, or business, have a very good valuation. Furthermore, during this stage where a new narrative is urgently needed to ignite the market. Innovations such as meme coins, the Ethereum Shanghai upgrade, and BRC-20 tokens continue to emerge. We can always keep the market excited about the things happening in our industry.” Justin summarized. “Even today, U.S. regulations are probably a bit backward, but we have seen places like Hong Kong, Dubai, and other areas, starting to take off. I believe for the next 6-12 months, crypto will still grow steadily. So I have full confidence in it.”
Huobi is having a breakthrough moment as meme coins are gaining popularity
Over the past month, meme coins have once again become a top trend in the cryptocurrency market. For cryptocurrency trading platforms, being cautious of the fear of missing out (FOMO) is something they need to consider.
Huobi has always been at the forefront of listing meme coins. According to data from the Huobi app, during this current meme craze, Huobi has successively listed multiple meme coins such as PEPE, LADYS, TURBO, AIDOGE, and BOB, surpassing other exchanges like Binance.
It is reported that Binance has only listed one token, PEPE, at the tail end of the meme hype. Justin Sun emphasized that Binance’s listing threshold, which sets a market capitalization requirement of over $100 million or even $1 billion for token candidates, creates substantial opportunities for other exchanges to grow and thrive.
“The crypto market is a very big market. So one exchange can’t cover everything. Different exchanges have different roles for covering different aspects of the market. I don’t believe there is going to be one giant exchange that dominates every aspect of crypto,” Justin added.
Justin Sun unveiled that to garner long-time attention, Huobi has established its unique standards for listing meme coins. Amongst the standards, the top two are traffic and community. “Everyone in the community wants to trade this meme coin. This is very important,” Justin pointed out. Reports find that Huobi has invested a large amount of resources in monitoring the trading volume, traffic, social network engagement, and community feedback related to meme coins, and even developed a methodology to efficiently track and analyze this data.
According to the data, the trading volume of Huobi has been growing consistently in the first half of 2023. Justin believes the meme coin narrative has contributed a significant amount of revenue to the Huobi exchange. “Meme coins have improved the overall condition of markets and have become a significant source of revenue for Huobi. Right now, I think among the top ten most tradable assets, at least four of them are meme coins,” Justin noted.
As is widely known, Justin Sun has shown a strong interest in meme coins as well. In a tweet, he expressed his decision to begin actively trading meme coins and promising projects through his public address. Justin also emphasized in the interview that equal opportunity, decentralization, IP, and being funny are the most attractive factors of meme coins. “These are also some standards I check with meme coins. I will make my investment decision based on those characters.”
Huobi strategically ensures compliance in the face of global regulations
When discussing the current regulatory landscape, Justin Sun expressed that the cryptocurrency market in the United States has long been enduring a lack of a clear regulatory framework, coupled with a deteriorating macro environment. Due to these unfriendly facts, the U.S. is losing out on a number of Web3 firms. Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex ceased all operations in the United States as of April 30. Coinbase plans to migrate some of its businesses outside the country and Binance abandoned the acquisition of Voyager.
“We will start to see a trend that more and more crypto companies will exit from the United States because of the unclear regulatory environment. But from an overall perspective, I see crypto will gain momentum in terms of global regulation. For example, the Hong Kong government has started to offer crypto frameworks and licenses that allow crypto exchanges to operate in Hong Kong. And also we see in Dubai, there are lots of policies that have been implemented to encourage crypto businesses to move there. So that’s why I believe that even though we may lose some headway in the United States, we can still get a place globally. So that’s why I’m still optimistic about the overall framework globally,” Justin analyzed.
Despite regional differences in cryptocurrency regulations, Huobi has always prioritized compliance and seeking long-term stable development.
According to open information, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong has recently released Guidelines for Virtual Asset Trading Platform Operators. The guidelines aim to regulate virtual asset trading platform operators, which came into effect on June 1, and allow retail investors to trade virtual or digital assets. Huobi is reported to be applying for a license for virtual asset trading in Hong Kong and plans to establish a new exchange: Huobi Hong Kong. After June 1, Huobi will have an 18-month grace period to operate the exchange in Hong Kong. During the next 18 months, Huobi may obtain approval from the Hong Kong SAR government at any time to operate within the region.
“More and more crypto businesses will start to move to Hong Kong,” Justin asserted.
