Cryptocurrency change Huobi is celebrating its tenth anniversary with a controversial advertising and marketing transfer — the agency is rebranding from “Huobi” to “HTX,” echoing bankrupt change FTX.
Huobi announced the rebranding on Sept. 13. “H” represents the primary letter of Huobi, “T” represents Justin Sun’s blockchain undertaking Tron, and “X” represents the change.
Another interpretation is that “HT” represents the change’s native Huobi Token (HT), whereas “X” is the Roman numeral for 10, which pays tribute to the corporate’s tenth anniversary. The agency‘s new slogan is: “HTX, Just Trade It.”
Before officially announcing the news, Huobi renamed its social media accounts to reflect the new name. The exchange’s X (previously Twitter) deal with is now HTX_Global, whereas its official Telegram group is “HTXglobalofficial.” Its web site area nonetheless displays the unique Huobi title on the time of writing.
Huobi’s new title shortly gathered consideration on social media, with many questioning the similarity to FTX, the now-defunct change whose founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, is facing 13 charges relating to fraud.
“What’s up with Huobi becoming HTX? I think it’s giving me FTX vibes,” one cryptocurrency observer wrote on X.
“Is this supposed to be a joke? FTX to HTX? That’s the first thing everyone will think,” one other X person argued, expressing confusion as to why a model would have taken such a reputation after FTX’s collapse in 2022.
Huobi isn’t the primary firm to seemingly borrow part of its title from the troubled FTX, nevertheless. In January 2023, the founders of collapsed cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital introduced a plan to boost $25 million for a proposed crypto exchange called GTX. Per its pitch deck, the title is “because G comes after F” — a play on FTX’s chapter.
Related: Elon Musk to rebrand Twitter to X, but Crypto Twitter has other ideas
Some cryptocurrency observers additionally argued that Huobi was rebranded “after getting into legal trouble.” It’s unclear what authorized troubles had been implied, because the change has been denying that it’s going through any points. In early August, it denied reviews suggesting it was close to insolvency and that Chinese police had arrested a few of its senior executives.
Previously, Huobi Global was additionally ordered to close its operations in Malaysia following an enforcement motion from the nation’s securities regulator in May 2023.
Huobi didn’t instantly reply to Cointelegraph’s request to remark.
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