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Exchange Review

Huobi


Exchange Fees

BTC Withdrawal Fee 0.0001 Taker Fee 0.20% Maker Fee 0.20%

Deposit Methods

Yes Wire Transfer Yes Credit Card


OFFER: If you sign up to Huobi using this link, you can receive up to USD 300 in sign-up bonus, by completing a number of basic tasks. 

You're welcome!

Huobi is originally a Chinese crypto exchange, but is now registered in the Seychelles. It launched in 2013, and was thereby one of the first crypto exchanges to launch in the world.

According to information from its website, Huobi has more than 10 million users, 20,000 Bitcoin in its Security Reserve Fund and it has never had a security incident.  

Huobi Intro Promo Pic

Tired of reading? No problem, check out our video review of Huobi here:

On the date of last updating this review (25 January 2023), Huobi had a 24-hour derivatives trading volume of USD 1.43 billion, according to data from Coinmarketcap.com. This gave it place no. 22 on Coinmarketcap's list of exchanges based on 24 hour derivatives trading volume.

Huobi's spot trading volume on the same date was lower (USD 343 million), which only awarded Huobi a 41st place on the corresponding list for 24 hour spot trading volume. 

Huobi Liquidity and Cryptos

Huobi has over 500 cryptocurrencies available for trade at its platform. Many of the more exotic altcoins are supported here as well. There are of course two sides of the same "coin" here. On a positive note, a large number of supported cryptos means that even the most exotic altcoin trader can stay at this platform and will not have to look elsewhere to cater for all his/her specific trading needs. On the flip side, however, this might also mean that there could be more scam coins available for trading here. Exchanges with a smaller number of supported cryptos generally only support the bigger crypto projects, which have all been subject to numerous due diligence processes and that are – in most cases – properly vetted. A newly launched altcoin has not been subject to the same scrutiny.

Huobi offers an affiliate program. Simply share your link with your referrals, have them sign up using your link, and then sit back and enjoy while you get up to 30% of all trading fees generated by your referrals, forever.

Many exchanges only allow affiliate commission for the first 12 months (or sometimes an even shorter period of time) of a referral's activity on the platform. Not Huobi. Huobi gives the referring party affiliate commission forever. 

You can start referring here.

Huobi Referral Program

This platform is not only available for desktops, but also for Android and Apple mobile phones. Most traders in the crypto world today carry out their trades via desktop (around 70% or so). However, there are naturally people out there that want to do it from their smartphones as well. If you’re one of those people, then the Huobi platform can still be for you!

Huobi Mobile Support

Huobi is also among the crypto exchanges out there that offer so called staking services. Their service “Huobi Earn” is, to our knowledge, offering the best staking rates (so called APYs, Annual Percentage Yields) out there. To our knowledge, Huobi offers the absolutely highest APY for staking Ethereum with a flexible staking period (5.00% APY). Here’s a list of some of the other available staking rates:

Huobi Staking APYs

You can start staking at their platform here.

If you’re interested in learning more about staking, the various staking types and where you can get the best staking rates, you can also have a look at our extensive Guide To Ethereum Staking.

Different exchanges have different trading views. And there is no “this overview is the best”-view. You should yourself determine which trading view that suits you the best. What the views normally have in common is that they all show the order book or at least part of the order book, a price chart of the chosen crypto and order history. They normally also have buy and sell-boxes. Before you choose an exchange, try to have a look at the trading view so that you can see that it feels right to you. The below is a picture of the trading view at Huobi, obtained on 25 January 2023:

At the beginning of 2017, several zero-fee exchanges started working in China. OKCoin, Huobi, and BTCC invited an influx of funds. But only months later, regulators forced the exchanges to impose a flat 0.20% trading fee. Today, there is only a handful of exchanges in the world offering zero-fee trades, most of them being decentralized exchanges.

As mentioned above, it was a long time ago that Huobi was registered in China, but Huobi still charges 0.20% per trade for spot trading. Both takers and makers pay the same fee.

With respect to Huobi's contract trading, takers are charged 0.05% and makers pay 0.02%. According to the latest empirical study on the subject, the industry average contract taker fees were 0.0618% and the industry average contract maker fees were 0.02597%. Consequently, Huobi's contract trading fees are below the industry average, regardless of whether you're a taker or a maker.

This exchange charges a withdrawal fee amounting to 0.0001 BTC when you withdraw BTC. This fee is also below the industry average (being 0.0004599 BTC per BTC-withdrawal according to the empirical study mentioned above) and is an edge against most other top crypto exchanges in the market.

Huobi Trusted Choice

According to its terms and conditions, Huobi does not allow users from certain jurisdictions on its platform. They divide the disallowed users into two groups, as detailed below.

Group 1 - Users from these countries are not allowed to use ANY of the services that Huobi offer on their platform:

  1. Mainland China
  2. USA
  3. Cuba
  4. Iran
  5. North Korea
  6. Sudan
  7. Syria
  8. Venezuela
  9. Singapore

Group 2 - Users from these countries are not allowed to use Huobi's derivatives trading services:

  1. All of the above (of course)
  2. Taiwan China
  3. Hong Kong
  4. Israel
  5. Iraq
  6. Bangladesh
  7. Bolivia
  8. Ecuador
  9. Kyrgyzstan
  10. Sevastopol
  11. Spain
  12. United Kingdom
  13. New Zealand

At Huobi, you can deposit money or pay for cryptos with both wire transfer and credit card. This makes Huobi a so called entry-level exhange, through which new crypto investors can take their first shaky steps into the thrilling crypto world.

A gateway to Web3, of sorts!

FAQs

Are Huobi's fees high?

Huobi charges a flat fee of 0.20% per spot order. This fee is quite in line with the industry average. When contract trading, you pay 0.05% if you are a taker and 0.02% if you are a maker, and both of these fees are below industry average.

What is the minimum deposit on Huobi?

Huobi has no minimum deposit requirement at all. However, there is a minimum order size of 10 USD for spot trading.

How long is the withdrawal time at Huobi?

We have not been able to find any recent information on the withdrawal times at Huobi. Information from 2021 indicate that withdrawals normally take 2-3 hours.

Has Huobi ever been hacked?

As of the date of writing this text, 15 February 2023, Huobi has never been hacked.

Is Huobi secure?

Huobi is most definitely a secure platform.

Where is Huobi based?

Huobi is based in the Seychelles.

Which countries are restricted from using Huobi?

At Huobi, they divide between two user groups. Group 1 may not open an account at Huobi at all. Group 2 may open an account, but may not engage in derivatives trading. Group 1: Users from Mainland China, USA, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Singapore. Group 2: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Israel, Iraq, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan, Sevastopol, Spain, UK (retail users only) and New Zealand.