H.E. Justin Sun, Founder of the TRON blockchain and Permanent Representative of Grenada to the World Trade Organization, has been appointed as a member of the global advisory board of Huobi. An international cryptocurrency exchange, Huobi had been a major player in the Chinese market prior to the Chinese government’s ban on crypto trading, and it remains among the top 10 exchanges by transaction volume. Sun’s appointment comes amid the sale of Huobi to Hong Kong-based About Capital Management for an undisclosed amount.
Sun confirmed his appointment to the board in an Oct. 9 Tweet, writing: “I am very honored to be appointed as a member of the global advisory board of @HuobiGlobal and work with industry, academic, and policy leaders to help guide and grow this innovative, vibrant, and resilient organization in its latest chapter of global expansion. Full sail ahead.”
What Does Justin Sun’s Support Mean for Huobi?
The price of HT, Huobi’s platform token, saw a more than 70% increase following the announcement of Sun’s appointment, as investors reacted optimistically to Sun’s commitment to strengthening the token to revitalize the exchange.
“We know that the key to revitalizing Huobi is to empower HT, and HT can only thrive on Huobi," said Sun in another tweet. "In the future, there will be many big moves around HT, including brand upgrade, heavy empowerment, and business cooperation.”
In an interview with CoinDesk, Justin Sun elaborated on the significance of supporting HT, noting that the success of other exchanges has historically been tied to support of their platform tokens.
“I think we need to build the HT token just like [Binance platform token] BNB. The success of BNB really benefits the Binance platform. So, I think in terms of operations, we need to focus on HT," Sun said.
As one of the early established leaders in the crypto and blockchain industry, Justin Sun brings a decade of experience to his role as adviser to Huobi. Sun is perhaps best known as the founder of TRON, one of the first Layer 1 blockchains to utilize smart contracts and a proof of stake (PoS) validation system. While TRON became completely decentralized in 2021 and now operates as a community-governed decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), Sun remains an advocate of the TRON blockchain as he continues to work toward both broader decentralization and mainstream adoption in the crypto space.
Justin Sun’s push toward decentralization led him to establish the decentralized USD (USDD) stablecoin in 2022, which utilizes a hybrid model of over-collateralization and decentralized, on-chain stabilization to peg the token to the U.S. dollar.
For Sun, stablecoins, which allow users to participate in the crypto space using assets designed to replicate the stability of traditional currencies and avoid the price volatility of other coins, are foundational to increasing the mainstream adoption of crypto and boosting activity on exchanges. As such, he explained that Huobi’s push to gain traction in the global market following its departure from China will have to involve a robust stablecoin presence on the exchange.
“We will make USDD one of the settlement stablecoins on Huobi. In the next three months, we will list all the cryptocurrencies on Huobi against USDD,” said Sun. “In the future, USDD will have more campaigns, partnerships, and collaborations with Huobi. That’s part of our strategy to expand USDD and the TRON use case around the globe.”
What’s Next for Huobi and Justin Sun?
While Huobi, along with all other crypto exchanges, was banned from operating in China in late 2021, Justin Sun said he was “optimistic” about the exchange’s ability to expand in other regions of the globe, as well as the possibility that China will eventually reconsider its regulatory approach to crypto trading.
“Even though Huobi has exited from China, I think we still have lots of efforts [available] to go to all the Asian countries, Europe, and South America, so I think we still have a very big market, overall,” said Sun.
And Sun isn’t ruling out the possibility of a return to China for Huobi, explaining that the Chinese government’s approach to regulating crypto could change as global activity increases.
“Huobi is definitely willing to expand the business in China if regulation allows. I’m optimistic because I believe crypto and blockchain are a world trend. No country in the world can be isolated from a world trend — just like internet technology,” said Sun. “China will definitely be one of the stronger players in the blockchain industry. We may have some setbacks or regulation hurdles in the short term, but in the long term I’m highly optimistic.”
In his interview with CoinGecko, Sun explained that he’s focused on his role on the global advisory board. However, he didn’t rule out the possibility of a larger investment in Huobi in the future.
“I’m joining to be a member of the global advisory board of Huobi and hope in the future we can attract more people to join the Huobi advisory board,” said Sun. “I think probably in the future we might have a chance to acquire Huobi, but not at this time.”
When asked about the broader trends in the crypto and blockchain industry, Sun expressed optimism that the so-called “crypto winter” would dissipate, but he noted that he believes it will last for “another six months at least.”
Sun explained that Federal Reserve policy and interest rates will continue to be a key influencer on the crypto market, but he said that he was generally “bullish” about crypto’s outlook. As an example, Justin Sun cited TRON’s recent designation as the official national blockchain of Dominica and the government’s plans to build the country’s financial infrastructure on the TRON blockchain.
“The TRON team will also collaborate with Dominica to issue the first Web 3 national fan token, Dominica Coin, very soon,” said Sun. “I think this kind of partnership will boost blockchain usage globally.”
