Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi is celebrating its 10th anniversary, but the exchange has run into controversy over a marketing move. In fact the exchange has rebranded and changed its name from Huobi to HTX, which sounds exactly like the bankrupt exchange FTX. Due to which the exchange is in trouble. Huobi announced the rebranding on September 13. In which H represents the initials of Huobi, T represents Justin Sun's blockchain project Tron and X represents the exchange. One reason for this name is that HT represents the exchange's native Huobi token (HT), while "X" is the Roman numeral for 10, which refers to the company's 10th anniversary. The company'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 handle is now HTX_Global, while its official Telegram group is "HTXglobalofficial".
Huobi's new name quickly attracted attention on social media. Many questioned the similarity to FTX, the now-defunct exchange whose founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, faces 12 fraud-related charges. Due to which the exchange had to face many kinds of jokes regarding the new name. Some cryptocurrency experts also argued that Huobi did the rebranding after getting into legal trouble. However, it is not clear what the legal trouble was, as the exchange has been denying that it is facing any problems. In early August, Huobi denied reports that it was close to bankruptcy and that Chinese police had arrested some of its senior executives. However, Huobi is not the first company to have a similar name to FTX. In January 2023, the founders of cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital announced plans to raise $25 million for a proposed crypto exchange called GTX.
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