• Huobi has already updated their social media profiles to reflect the change.
• Social media users were quick to point out the similarities to FTX.

In a contentious marketing effort for its 10th anniversary, crypto exchange Huobi is changing its name from “Huobi” to “HTX.” The name change was announced by Huobi on September 13. The “H” stands for Huobi, the “T” for Justin Sun’s Tron blockchain project, and the “X” stands for the exchange itself.

Alternatively, “HT” might stand for the exchange’s native Huobi Token (HT), while “X” could be read as the Roman numeral for 10, honoring the company’s tenth anniversary. The new tagline for the company is “HTX, Just Trade It.”

Similarities to Defunct FTX

Huobi has already updated their social media profiles to reflect the change before making the announcement public. Both the official Telegram group and the new Twitter handle for the exchange have been updated. Social media users were quick to point out the similarities between Huobi’s new moniker and FTX, the collapsed exchange.

Despite this, Huobi is not the only startup to ostensibly take inspiration from the FTX crisis with its own name. The defunct crypto hedge company Three Arrows Capital’s founders announced at the start of this year their intention to raise $25M for a new crypto exchange dubbed GTX.

Additionally, a few in the community pointed out that Huobi changed its name “after getting into legal trouble.” Since the exchange has denied having any legal problems, it is unclear what problems were suggested. It refuted rumors of impending bankruptcy and Chinese police arrests of company officials in early August.

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