What is Huobi Token (HT) in simple terms

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2019-09-02 00:00:00:


Huobi Token (HT) is the proprietary virtual currency of one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Huobi Pro. The currency was developed to reduce the fees that are paid by token holders for trading on the exchange. In addition, the token is used in the point system when new coins enter the exchange.

To some extent, the creation of their own tokens by exchanges can be called a new trend in the world of cryptocurrency . Even before the development of NT, the Binance exchange - Binance Coin (BNB) and KuCoin - KuCoin Shares (KCS) released their own coins. Your own token allows you to increase the turnover of the exchange. In addition, such a move has considerable marketing value, attracting the attention of many potential users to the platform.

The Huobi exchange - the giant of the cryptocurrency market - did not carry out ICOs, which is a certain standard for the virtual money sphere. After the Chinese government introduced new restrictions on trading on domestic exchanges, Huobi naturally faced some difficulties. In fairness, it should be noted that the platform was not alone in its problems, which were experienced by all significant participants in the cryptocurrency market in China.

The founder of the company, Leon Lee, made the decision to keep up with the changing market conditions and quite quickly the platform switched to a new trading model called Over-the-Counter. The essence of this model is to enter the largest foreign markets.

Leon Lee announced that trading on the platform is suspended, which happened on September 15, 2017, and cryptocurrency trading started in early November. According to Lee, trading volumes on the platform decreased by almost 96% during this period, which caused enormous damage.

The management of the company came to the conclusion that for more efficiency in raising funds for the provision of various services at the initial stage , the development of its own token would be relevant .

In addition, according to Li, one of the companys key goals was to accept Huobi Token as an asset, which will allow better connectivity between users of various trading platforms managed by Huobi, which will enable it to gain a foothold and expand in foreign markets.

Today the company is represented in the USA, South Korea, Canada and Brazil. The PRC branch has been transformed into a blockchain research platform.

HT cryptocurrency can be bought and sold on the Huobi exchange. On this platform, there are trading pairs USDT, Bitcoin and Ethereum with HT, which allows you to use the token as a financial instrument. Many users are confused by the possible price volatility. To resolve this issue the group has Huobi fund amounting 1 / 5 of the net profit. With these funds, support can be provided to NT coins based on the market value indicated in the quarterly report.

History of Huobi Token (HT)

The history of Huobi began in August 2013, when the platform was launched in test mode, and in September of the same year, the exchange began to operate in full force. The founder of the company, Leon Lee, worked at Oracle Corporation before creating his own project. The platform has been funded by major venture capital funds such as Dai Zhikang, Zhen Fund, and Sequoia Capital.

In September 2017, following restrictions imposed by the Chinese government, Huobi changed its location, headquartered in Singapore, and its name was changed to Huobi Pro (later - Huobi Global). In this regard, there was a slight pause in the auction until March of the next year.

In 2018, Huobi acquired the BitYes exchange. Thus, the platform entered the American and European markets.

The government ban on cryptocurrency trading and initial token offerings was the main prerequisite for Huobis development of its own cryptocurrency. After the “move” and the temporary suspension of trading, the companys management was faced with the need to make urgent decisions in order to restore the business.

If initially the Huobi platform was focused primarily on the domestic Chinese market, then Huobi Globals goal was to enter the global market. Due to the sharp decline in trading volumes, the management decided to create its own token, which became Huobi Token.

The purpose of cryptocurrency development was not to create a new asset to fund third-party projects. The main task that was set for the token was to solve the internal problems of the platform - to increase trust on the part of existing users of the exchange, attract new customers and, in the end, restore reputation and return to leading positions in the ratings.

In early 2018, the platform began distributing the newly created internal HT token among privileged users. It was proposed to purchase a premium package of services, which included a certain amount of cryptocurrency. The owners of new tokens could use them to pay for commissions and other intra-exchange settlements.

In the first two weeks after the launch, 300 million coins, which accounted for 60% of the total amount of cryptocurrency, were distributed among traders. The remainder of 200 million tokens was left by the company as a fund to support the life of the system.

In addition, Huobi Pro announced the establishment of the Huobi Investor Protection Fund. Every quarter, the company buys tokens, spending a fifth of its net profit on this. The funds received are stored in a separate Ethereum wallet and are intended to compensate for damage that users of the system may receive in the process of interacting with it. Anyone can view the balance of the wallet. In this way, the company is trying to counter the decline in the value of coins and turn Huobi Token into the most stable and reliable cryptocurrency.

The development of an internal token made it possible to increase the capitalization of the exchange and strengthen the loyalty of users, providing them with unique conditions for working on the platform. As conceived by the leaders of Huobi Global, its own cryptocurrency was supposed to tie into a single community of exchange users in different countries of the world.

The platform team consists of professional developers and skilled experienced marketers. The work done by them was a huge success and the Huobi exchange, being still at the very bottom, was able to regain its leading positions in the ratings.

In the summer of 2019, it was revealed that Huobi Global is implementing measures to reduce the supply of Huobi Token, which keeps the entire Huobi ecosystem running in a quarterly burning event.

The management of the company said that the platform has bought 14,011,700 coins out of 310,318,300 existing on the market. This indicator exceeds the figures of the last quarter by 116%. The reason for this decision was the growth in sales volumes and an improvement in the general situation in the cryptocurrency market.

This measure, according to the companys management, is aimed at stabilizing the value of the token and at motivating the owners of the coins to keep them, in order to counteract inflationary processes.

As mentioned above, the company spends a fifth of its net profit to buy back outstanding coins. The redeemed coins are stored in the Ethereum wallet and are called the Investor Protection Fund. This practice has been going on since 2018.

Since the companys earnings cannot be the same in every quarter, the amount of tokens redeemed is also different every time. Due to a significant increase in the platforms net revenue, its share of the coin buyback plan increased by 232 percent compared to the previous quarter. Since April 15, 2019, eight operations have been carried out to withdraw coins from the market. The total amount withdrawn was 21,356,800 coins, compared with 6,474,800 tokens that were redeemed in the first quarter of this year.

Participation in the Huobi Prime and Huobi FastTrack programs - fee generators - as well as the productive Spring for the Huobi DM platform with a trading volume of $ 504 billion was cited as the reason for the increase in the number of redeemed tokens, among other things.

In the second half of 2019, according to Leon Lee, even more improvements and innovations in the platform are expected. In particular, he is referring to the subsequent development of the recently developed Huobi Finance Chain, a decentralized blockchain platform with shared access and the improvement of the high-frequency algorithmic API.

In addition to what the company said, this cycle of withdrawal of coins from the market was the last time Huobi Tokens are withdrawn through the traditional method of buyback. The company plans to use funds acquired in the course of the HT Tiered Fee deduction program for subsequent buyouts. In addition, the management discusses the possibility of redeeming coins every month or every day, instead of using a quarterly cycle.

Distinctive features of Huobi Token

The peculiarities of the Huobi Token cryptocurrency are primarily related to the fact that the Huobi exchange was originally a project focused exclusively on the domestic Chinese market. And if it were not for the tough measures on state regulation of the cryptocurrency market, implemented by the Chinese authorities, the platform would have remained a regional player. As mentioned above, the imposition of a ban on ICO (you can read about the basics of ICO here ) and restrictions on cryptocurrency trading in China forced Huobis management to reconsider the companys strategy and pay attention to the external market. In order to create an updated platform, on the basis of which a community of users from various countries of the world will be formed, the Huobi Token cryptocurrency was launched.

Based on the foregoing, the following significant distinguishing features of HT can be deduced, which separate it from most other virtual currencies:

  1. Huobi Token is an internal currency that can only be used for transactions on the Huobi exchange. The token cannot be used to conduct settlements outside the platform, pay for purchases on the Internet, etc.
  2. The creation of the HT cryptocurrency was dictated not by the desire to obtain a new investment tool, but by the desire to solve the problems that the company faced at that time - increasing the trust of existing ones and attracting new users.

Huobi executives had several reasons for developing their own cryptocurrency. Firstly, this is how the loyalty program was implemented. While the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, which also has its own internal BNB token, provides discounts on commission payments to all traders who make them using BNB coins, then Huobi offers a reduced cost of commission to members of the bonus program, in payment of participation in which the platform accepts its own currency Huobi Token.

Secondly, the companys management decided to use its own internal coins to vote on the Huobi Autonomous Digital Asset Exchange (HADAX). This exchange was founded by Huobi so that users can invest in a promising cryptocurrency that does not undergo complex assessment and does not fall into the list of tokens traded on the main exchange. Instead, participants vote on the cryptocurrency that they would like to see on the platform, and the HADAX exchange performs minimal verification of its authenticity and usefulness, without auditing the investment value of the token. If the team wishes to see their own token on the HADAX exchange, they deposit funds in the Huobi Token cryptocurrency. This contribution is necessary to ensure payments to users in the event a token is removed from the exchange list for any existing reason.

The third reason for creating its own token is Huobis desire to create the most stable and reliable cryptocurrency. This is what prompted the creation of the Huobi Depositor Protection Fund, which was already mentioned above.

The project is constantly being improved. Developers strive to meet the highest requirements of their users, implement measures to support them, and constantly work to improve the quality of service. Any attempts at attacks and hacking are immediately suppressed by specialists from the Huobi team, which minimizes the risks that platform clients may face. The key advantage of the platforms security system is that it monitors both the exchange itself and all related services. So, after the information about the attack on Tether was received, the function of depositing and withdrawing USDT was disabled and restored only after this problem was completely resolved.

In addition, there is a constant search and monitoring of all kinds of sites that hide behind the name Huobi and pretend that they are related to it. In particular, a platform called Huobibtc was revealed very quickly and was exposed shortly after its appearance.

In order to automate the trading process, an API system was developed. The user of the exchange can manage his own keys through his account.

A lot of attention was paid by the creators to reducing commissions. For this purpose, Point-cards operate within the platform, which can be purchased by clicking on the "My cards" link located in the users personal account. The more Point-cards are purchased, the more profit the trader subsequently receives.

Huobi is deservedly considered one of the largest exchanges in the crypto industry, both in China and the international market. Such significant success is due to the great convenience and functionality of the platform, as well as its security and reliability. Huobi is currently one of the three largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.

The companys management has been accused several times of incorrectly setting trading volumes. However, this information has never been confirmed by specific facts, so it can be attributed to rumors spread by competitors and other ill-wishers.

How Huobi Token works

The Huobi cryptocurrency platform is based on an intelligent blockchain analysis model that fully evaluates the entire Huobi ecosystem and analyzes potential opportunities for strategic development based on the research and risk management performed.

Platform users can vote on ways to develop and improve the system through Huobi Autonomous Digital Asset Exchange (HADAX). You must be the owner of HT Coins to vote. Their number is directly proportional to the value of the users vote. In the event that the users proposal was not approved, the spent votes are returned to them.

The cryptocurrency itself, Huobi Token, operates on the Ethereum blockchain and is based on the standard ERC-20 algorithm . The virtual coin is essentially the same fuel that powers the Huobi system as GAS is for the Neo system.

Huobi Token advantages and disadvantages

Huobi Token cryptocurrency provides its holders with a number of advantages. Some of them are similar to the merits of other cryptocurrencies that have been developed by exchanges, in particular BNB.

Nevertheless, NT also has unique strengths inherent only to it, increasing the demand, value and liquidity of the token. Due to its advantages, the Huobi Token cryptocurrency attracts the attention of many users, and judging by the dynamics of its price, it is of significant importance in the crypto industry. So, the key benefits of the token are:

  1. Reduced transaction fees. Exchange users can buy themselves a privileged status by paying for it with Huobi Token. Benefits operate on a subscription basis, for which you must pay every month. The highest privilege is to pay for transactions at a fifty percent discount. Similar conditions are also provided by the Binance exchange, however, the privileged position on the Huobi exchange, unlike Binance, is not limited in time. A user who regularly pays for his VIP status continues to receive a fifty percent discount on any transactions on the exchange.

The VIP discount can make a huge difference for high-volume savers, high-frequency traders and retail users. In these conditions, it is difficult to overestimate the scale of savings provided by a halving of the cost of the commission. Considering this, it is the large investors who are primarily interested in promoting the Huobi Token cryptocurrency, who are given the opportunity to secure a privileged position on the exchange.

  1. Redemption of liquidity. This refers to the practice of the exchange described above, consisting in the redemption of its own coins at the expense of part of the profit from commission payments.

The purpose of such a buyback is to form and replenish the Huobi Investor Protection Fund, which was created in order to protect system participants from the consequences of possible unforeseen circumstances in the market, a sharp decrease in the price of a token or illegal actions of intruders. In addition, redemption of some of the coins prevents the creation of excessive stocks, which could lead to inflation.

  1. Early access and discounted sale. Early access is not always seen as a virtue, but it can be of great benefit.

Privileged users who have obtained a VIP status can get early access to assets, which will be traded on the Huobi exchange during the sales period. The ambiguity of this property of Huobi lies in the fact that the point of obtaining a VIP status in this way boils down to buying the opportunity to participate in pre-access, which looks rather unethical. At the same time, since early access and sales are closed, it is not possible to speak exactly about the nature of the preferences received by privileged users in reality.

This feature of the platform is often the cause of fierce discussions.

  1. Huobi Token is a trading pair with most of the most common cryptocurrencies. In particular, the coin is easily exchanged for Tether, Ethereum and Bitcoin.
  2. Huobi Token Holders Right to Vote and Research. This opportunity is another advantage that the token owner gets - the ability to influence the functioning and development of the exchange. In particular, you can vote on the inclusion of new tokens in the listing of the exchange. It should be said that this property of the platform is also very ambiguous. On the one hand, the user community can make a general democratic decision regarding the priority areas of the exchanges activities and the inclusion of new assets in its list. However, it should be borne in mind that interested parties can purchase a sufficient number of HT tokens, thus gaining an advantage in voting and pushing for the inclusion of the cryptocurrency they need in the exchange list.
  3. The advantage of cryptocurrency can also be considered the fact that it was created by an exchange. This means that it quickly appears on the listing of other exchanges. In fact, NT coins appeared on exchanges on the same day they were completed. Users who are just thinking about buying a Huobi privilege package and having a VIP status on this exchange still have the opportunity to receive a lot of benefits from the increase in the value of the token.

In addition to the advantages of the Huobi Token cryptocurrency, it is worth mentioning the advantages of the Huobi platform itself, since the token is used for internal settlements. So, among the strengths of the Huobi site are the following:

  • High reliability and safety. The exchange has an effective modern security system that, in the event of a threat, blocks the ability to deposit and withdraw funds. The DDoS protection system is unique in its kind. In addition, each cryptocurrency is carefully studied and analyzed according to many parameters before being included in the exchanges trading list.
  • International team and highly qualified staff. The platform maintains partnerships with many companies around the world, and the companys developers and marketers are professionals and enthusiasts dedicated to their own business. The team also has extensive experience in cybersecurity and risk management.
  • Lots of altcoins on the trading list. The exchange trades over 150 different cryptocurrencies.
  • Round-the-clock service. The technical support of the platform operates without breaks and days off. Operators can provide advice in English or Chinese. You can contact them by phone, email or by filling out an online form.
  • Huobi Token is one of the worlds largest exchanges and continues to grow.
  • Assessment of blockchain assets is carried out by independent specialists.
  • Almost all funds are stored in cold wallets.
  • The platform has service centers in many countries of the world.
  • The exchange supports most of the popular operating systems, in particular Windows, MacOS, IOS and Android.

Among the disadvantages are the following properties:

  • Excessive complexity of the verification process compared to competing platforms.
  • The impossibility of depositing and withdrawing through many payment systems that are very popular in Russia and the countries of the post-Soviet space.
  • Incomplete English localization.

How to buy or sell Huobi Token?

You cannot mine NT tokens. You can buy cryptocurrency on the Huobi exchange, where it makes up currency pairs with most popular tokens. In addition to Huobi, the virtual coin is listed on the LBank and Gate.io exchanges, so their users can purchase Huobi Token there as well. 

However, outside the Huobi exchange, given that NT is its internal token, it makes little sense to buy it by traders who are not users of this platform. Unless only with the intention of making money on speculation.

The NT token began trading on exchanges in February 2018 and had a rate of $ 1.49. In the initial period, the value of the coin remained stable and did not rise above two dollars. The strongest rise was recorded in the early summer of 2018, when the value of the NT coin reached $ 6.1. This was driven by the increasing popularity of cryptocurrency.

As of the end of August 2019, the Huobi Token exchange rate against the dollar is $ 4.55 per NT, the exchange rate against the Russian ruble is 302.07 rubles per coin, and against the euro - 4.1 euros. The market capitalization of the cryptocurrency is 227,214,634 US dollars, and in the ranking of cryptocurrencies in terms of capitalization according to the version of the Coinmarketcap.com website, the token occupies 35th line. 

The charts show that the Huobi Token price has an upward trend, so NT is of interest to investors today. In no small part, the increased interest in the token is associated with the recent release of a new project from Huobi - an IEO platform called Huobi Prime, and the parallel trading of Top Network (TOP) tokens.

Despite the fact that the main purpose of Huobi Token is to use it for intra-platform settlements, nevertheless, the interest from investors in NT is very high. Basically, we are talking about investments in the short term. In particular, the volume of investments increases in the period before the start of the token buyback cycle for the Investor Protection Fund. Huobi continues to actively develop, constantly implements new projects, which fuels the interest of the cryptocurrency community in the HT token.

Where to store HUOBI TOKEN

To store Huobi Token, the companys developers created a multi-currency Huobi Wallet, which can also store over a thousand other cryptocurrencies. These include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin , Bitcoin Cash and many other popular virtual coins. 

Huobi Wallet supports mobile versions and can be used on Android and IOS devices. The wallet is quite convenient and has a high level of security. Users have complete control over their own assets by directly managing security keys. Wallet owners manage their account themselves, they can add new virtual assets at will. The wallet interface is very simple and pretty attractive.

In addition to Huobi Wallet, you can store HT coins on the exchange itself. Storage takes place in "cold" wallets, user assets are protected through a two-factor authentication system and a complex to counter DDoS attacks.

In addition, all wallets that support virtual currency based on the ERC20 protocol are suitable for storing Huobi Token. These include Jaxx, Exodus, MetaMask, and others. You can also use Ledger and Trezor hardware wallets.

It must be said that when storing tokens on a third-party wallet, the user does not receive any privileges from owning NT coins. In other words, the most preferred storage option is still applications from Huobi Corporation.

Emission of Huobi Token

The emission and distribution of Huobi Token coins started on January 24, 2018 and were completed in early February. Millions of coins were bought by users in the first minutes after their appearance at the auction.

A total of 500 million coins were issued, of which 300 million, or 60%, were sold to privileged users of the Huobi exchange and are now in circulation. Another 200 million coins were frozen by the developers. Half of this amount is used to pay rewards to users and to keep the Huobi ecosystem running. The rest has been invested and is a reward for the development team.

The future of Huobi Token

Since the Chinese government has implemented tough regulatory measures in the crypto industry, many major platforms have faced great difficulties. The Huobi corporation also had problems, in connection with which the management had to switch to an OTC trading model and reorient itself to the foreign market.

The development of its own internal cryptocurrency was aimed at strengthening the companys position and increasing user confidence. The team of Huobi Token creators intends to turn their cryptocurrency into the most stable, demanded virtual asset, the ownership of which provides a number of benefits and advantages to regular investors and exchange users.

Developers provide ongoing support for the cryptocurrency, countering the increased volatility. It is anticipated that significant fluctuations may occur during token buyback periods that occur every quarter. This circumstance provides another opportunity for depositors to generate income, given the high predictability of this event. According to many analysts, cryptocurrency has considerable potential and is deservedly of interest to investors.

The concept of a native internal exchange token is not unique. In addition to Huobi, its own cryptocurrency exists on the Binance and KuCoin exchanges. However, one can hardly assume the possibility of competition between them.

HT tokens were created and used only as an intra-exchange payment instrument and their popularity is directly related to the business reputation of Huobi Corporation and the success in its activities.

In this regard, it should be said that the exchange operates in many countries of the world, uniting its users into a huge crypto community. The corporation continues to demonstrate business success, despite the situation with bans and restrictions in the PRC. Huobi is still one of the largest and most significant cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.

These conditions have a positive effect on the NT cryptocurrency. Basically, the corporation has no problem in creating a user base for the token, because one already exists. In addition, the use of virtual currency is accompanied by the benefits that users receive from the creators of the token.

With regard to investing in NT, the leaders of the corporation themselves focus on the fact that this token does not have the goal of becoming a means of payment, which will be widely used to pay for purchases and services or make other payments outside the exchange.

The task of the electronic coin was and remains to ensure the functioning of the Huobi platform. This condition, on the one hand, does not contribute to a significant increase in the value of the cryptocurrency, on the other hand, it determines the stable course of its development and eliminates many risks that occur when it comes to other virtual currencies .

Huobi Token cryptocurrency should be considered as an investment vehicle. For investments in the short term, quarterly buybacks of tokens are most preferred. During these periods, the cost increases, which allows you to get a projected profit.

For long-term capital investments, the HT token has more advantages specifically for users of the Huobi exchange. All kinds of promotions, the opportunity to take part in the management of the exchange, high discounts on commission payments allow us to say with confidence that investments in Huobi Token have considerable prospects.