Huobi Review

Huobi is a Chinese cryptocurrency exchange, which was founded in 2013 by Leon Li. Before founding Huobi, Leon Li worked at Oracle as a computer engineer. The exchange was based in Beijing, China, before the country introduced stricter rules for crypto exchanges and trading platforms. Today Huobi is headquartered in Singapore and has offices in the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong.

In August 2018 Huobi became one of the few crypto exchanges publicly listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Due to regulatory complications, Huobi China operates as a blockchain consulting and research company.

Huobi Features Review

Huobi Security Review

As one of the largest exchanges in the crypto industry, Huobi invests heavily in security to ensure that user funds are adequately protected. In the past, the exchange was hacked, but no user money wере lost because the responsible employees managed to react in time. Huobi keeps 98% of the deposited funds in a Multisig cold wallet, while the remaining 2% are kept in a hot wallet to provide the necessary liquidity. To ensure the highest level of security, the wallets are under round-the-clock supervision so that staff can react immediately if they detect any suspicious activity.

Account Security Options

• Google 2FA Authentication
• SMS Authentication (not recommended due to sim swappers gaining traction in recent days) 
• Email Notifications
• PGP email encryption
• Fund Password
• Anti-Phishing Code
• Link Phone Number (also not recommended for the same reason from above)

Know Your Customer (KYC) Procedure

To add another level of security and prevent money laundering, Huobi has introduced the Know Your Customer (KYC) process. Before you are allowed to trade cryptocurrencies on the exchange, you must go through a KYC procedure and provide some necessary documents.

Individual ID verification document requirements:

• Passport, driving license and other legal ID
• First and last name
• Photo of ID

Deposits and Withdrawals

Huobi is very rich in options for deposits and withdrawals as it offers over 180 cryptocurrencies. For fiat-based deposits and withdrawals, Huobi works with a third party – STCOINS, which handles transfers to and from the exchange.

You can deposit and withdraw the following cryptocurrencies:

• BTC
• ETH
• EOS
• GUSD
• TUSD
• PAX
• USDC
• XRP
• BCH
• ADA
• DASH
• NEO
• TRX
• QTUM
• OMG
• LSK
• ICX
• WAVES
• SALT 
• BAT
• And more

Trading Instruments 

In addition to spot trading with many different cryptocurrencies, Huobi also offers margin and futures trading on its platform. With margin trading, you have the possibility to trade with a leverage of 3x on BTC, ETH, XRP, LTC, BCH, and EOS. Another elegant feature you will find here is the possibility to choose between isolated and cross margin.

Huobi futures trading provides access to trading with higher leverage on a number of cryptocurrencies: 

• BTC
• ETH
• ETC
• EOS
• LTC
• BCH
• XRP
• TRX

Futures are traded via Weekly, Bi-weekly and Quarterly contracts, offering 3 options per asset in a different time frame with up to 20x leverage.

Huobi offers an OTC desk (over the counter) where you can quickly buy or sell the following cryptocurrencies:

• BTC
• ETH
• USDT
• EOS
• XRP
• LTC
• HT
• HUSD
• BCH

The OTC desk is regulated and has a DLT license from Gibraltar, which was acquired in 2019. It allows them to provide crypto trading services to professional and institutional clients. You will receive a list from which you can choose with whom to trade, buy, and sell.

Order Types

As on most trading platforms for cryptocurrencies, Huobi also offers standard order types. These order types are available for spot, margin and futures trading on the exchange. 

Available Order Types on Huobi: 

• Market
• Limit
• Stop-Limit
• Trigger Order

User Interface

Huobi has a very user-friendly interface. The layout is good because it summarizes all the information provided or needed in an easily accessible form. You can quickly change your settings, access different types of charts, etc. A disadvantage of the interface is that you cannot fully customize it to your personal preferences, since the only thing that can be changed is the color (you can choose between dark blue and white). 

The chart takes up most of the space, with the Order tab filling the space below. The unique feature of the chart is that you can choose between 2 chart options – the standard option (original) and an integrated TradingView chart. The third option is the depth view, where the candle chart is changed with a depth chart. 

The right side is taken up by Order Book and Market Trades, which display the last trades executed on the exchange in real time. Underneath is a handy order tab with buy and sell buttons that take their own respectable places. 

On the margin side of the platform, the UI is almost identical to the spot UI, the main differences are an additional indicator that shows the risk ratio, the total loan amount, and your available funds. 

Huobi exchange fees

The exchange offers a flexible fee volume-based structure. The higher the amount you trade, the lower the fees on the exchange. The exchange has its own token – Huobi Token (HT), which further reduces the trading fees. Maintaining a highly competitive fee structure is in the best interest of any self-respecting exchange in any industry, and Huobi manages to do this through its creative volume-based fee structure.

Spot Fee Rate:

The fee rate for Maker and Taker without holding the HB token is 0.200%.

Margin Fee Rate:

The Margin fee for Maker and Taker without holding the HB token is 0.0980%

Fiat trading fee rate:

Huobi Exchange Volume

Huobi’s reported volumes on their Global exchange is in the billions per day. Overall, the exchange is in a very healthy state, and it is slowly expanding to more regions. The majority of the trade volume comes from BTCUSDT, followed by ETHUSDT and BCHUSDT.

Ecological Services of Huobi Group

Over the years, Huobi has added various services to its product catalog, enabling it to offer more investment instruments.

Huobi’s ecological services consist of:

• News
• Pool
• Chat
• Wallet
• Huobi China
• Huobi Capital
• Global Ecosystem Fund
• Huobi Cloud

Affiliate Program

Huobi has recently expanded its flexible partner program – Super Rebate. It is a very rewarding program as it offers a rebate of 30%. There are 3 tiered levels – Basic, Mid, and Upper – with different terms and conditions in order to reach the next level.

Conclusion

Huobi is one of the longest established exchanges, constantly expanding its arsenal of products to attract new users. The exchange is one of the leaders in the crypto industry with numerous branches (Korea, MENA) serving different territories and users while being in compliance with local regulations. This exchange offers a wide range of trading instruments and is, therefore, able to provide one of the best environments for trading. 

Huobi is a Chinese cryptocurrency exchange based in Singapore with over 180+ cryptocurrencies trading and multiple trading instruments available.

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