Huobi closing its crypto exchange in Thailand in July – TechCrunch

Huobi, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, will shut down its exchange in Thailand permanently on July 1, it announced on its website.

This marks Huobi’s short-lived expansion into the Southeast Asian country where crypto adoption is flourishing. According to blockchain analysis company Chainalysis, Thailand has one of the world’s highest adoption rates of DeFi, or decentralized financial services, nestling next to the US and Vietnam.

Nonetheless, the government of Thailand has been tightening the use of crypto-based payments amid crashing crypto value. The country had eight licensed crypto exchange platforms as of February, with Bangkok-based Bitkub leading the pack.

Huobi launched in Thailand just a little over two years ago as the firm doubled down on global expansion following its exit from China, where it was originally founded. China…