Justin Sun denies being 'real buyer' of Huobi stake sale: Exclusive

Earlier today, crypto news outfit Wu Blockchain, citing "multiple sources," reported that Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron blockchain ecosystem, is the "real buyer" of the recent Huobi stake sale. However, Sun told The Block that the claim is "wrong." 

"I'm only an advisor to Huobi," Sun told The Block, reiterating what he said in a Twitter post earlier today.

Huobi officially announced adding Sun to its advisory board, among others.

Several news outlets have followed Wu Blockchain's report, which also claims that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried possibly bought a stake in Huobi with Sun. Bankman-Fried told The Block that neither he nor FTX is involved in the deal.

Huobi announced its stake sale early Saturday, saying that "the controlling shareholder" of the company had agreed to sell its stake to Hong Kong-based investment company About Capital Management's M&A fund.

While Huobi did not name the controlling shareholder, the news came after reports that claimed Huobi founder Leon Li was seeking a buyer for his nearly 60% stake in the company and was asking for at least $1 billion. Huobi did not disclose the terms of the deal with About Capital Management.

Li founded Huobi in 2013 in China. The exchange operator exited its China business in December 2021. Now under new ownership, Huobi plans an international expansion and will receive an "injection of sufficient capital in margin and risk provision fund," it said in the stake sale announcement on the weekend.