Huobi China: What Happened and What It Means for Crypto Users

When you hear Huobi China, a now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange that once dominated trading volume in mainland China. Also known as Huobi Global, it was one of the largest crypto platforms in Asia before China’s 2017 ban forced it to exit the domestic market. Huobi China didn’t just disappear—it was shut down by government order. The move wasn’t random. China was cracking down on unregulated financial activity, and crypto exchanges were seen as risky, opaque, and outside state control. Huobi China stopped serving Chinese users, moved its operations overseas, and rebranded as Huobi Global. That split created two very different entities: one banned, one still active—but with a legacy that still shapes how crypto is traded in Asia today.

The fallout from Huobi China’s shutdown didn’t just affect traders. It forced the entire crypto industry to rethink how to operate in heavily regulated markets. Other exchanges like OKEx and Binance followed suit, pulling out of China and building offshore platforms. This shift led to the rise of P2P trading, VPN-based access, and stablecoin use in China’s underground crypto economy. Meanwhile, Huobi Global became a major player in global markets, listing hundreds of tokens and offering futures, staking, and institutional tools. But here’s the thing: if you’re in China today, you can’t legally use Huobi Global either. The ban still stands. What’s left is a gray market where people trade through unofficial channels, often using USDT to bypass restrictions.

What you’ll find in this collection isn’t just history. It’s a look at how government actions reshape markets, how scams exploit regulatory gaps, and how users adapt when official doors close. You’ll read about fake exchanges like MoonDex that mimic real ones, how crypto bans in Algeria and Colombia create underground networks, and how projects like PumaPay and Birb rose and fell in the chaos. These aren’t random stories—they’re all connected to the same reality: when a major exchange like Huobi China gets shut down, it doesn’t just vanish. It leaves behind a trail of copycats, confusion, and new ways to trade under the radar.