What happened
As of 12:45 p.m. ET on Monday, Huobi Token (HT) has skyrocketed 31.9% over the past 24 hours. That's right -- while the overall cryptocurrency market saw a nice surge of 1.5% over this same time frame, Huobi has outperformed notably.
What gives?
Well, a key advisor to Huobi's global advisory board, Justin Sun, announced that Huobi is moving forward with an application for a trading license in Hong Kong. This license would allow Huobi to become an established and trusted exchange for users in the special administrative region of China to trade crypto. Additionally, a new trading venue was announced, called Huobi Hong Kong, which will facilitate "fully compliant" transactions, in accordance with Hong Kong law.
So what
This is a major deal for Huobi, but it also has significance for the broader crypto sector as a whole. Some unconfirmed reports have begun to circulate that June 1, 2023, will mark the date that Hong Kong will officially regulate and legalize crypto trading and ownership, which would contradict the current legislative approach China has taken to digital currencies.
Perhaps the key driver of this speculation has been noted institutional partnerships, which have started to unfold in Hong Kong, and China as well. Tencent is reportedly partnering with MultiversX (formerly Elrond), to enhance its portfolio of Web3 products.
Now what
Now, the question is whether any of these potential bullish catalysts will play out. Most investors know China's stance on crypto. Indeed, given President Xi Jinping's stance on crypto thus far, perhaps investors are once again getting ahead of themselves when it comes to anticipating something that will never play out.
However, similar to the nation's previous "zero-COVID" policy, perhaps China's "zero-crypto" policy will be coming to an end. If an experiment with Hong Kong works, and leaders can be assured that allowing crypto to proliferate in a regulated manner won't spell the end of the communist party, perhaps there's something to be bullish about.
I'm not sure either way. That said, Huobi's bold move today should spur some bullish price action. And this is a token that's now made it onto my watch list, for what it's worth.
