Chinese police have purportedly detained senior executives from several offshore cryptocurrency exchanges.

The move is reportedly linked to Chinese anti-money laundering and anti-gambling efforts.

The news was first reported by crypto journalist WuBlockchain.

WuBlockchain, the source of the initial report, confirmed that executives from Huobi (and likely Tron) are under investigation.

However, they asserted that such incidents are common in China, particularly among offshore exchanges, whose founders often operate from locations like Singapore.

As a result, the impact on Huobi and Tron is expected to be minimal.

According to WuBlockchain, the root cause of these investigations lies in the local government's lack of funding.

"Some executives of Huobi and Tron have indeed been investigated. But to be honest, this is common in China. It happens on almost every offshore exchange. Its founders are in Singapore. So I think the impact on the business should be very small.

The real reason behind the investigations is actually simpler than you think. This is because the local government has insufficient funding and needs to find a crypto company that is not protected by Chinese law to raise money."

In response to the situation, Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, sent out a single tweet featuring the "4" sign, a symbol meant to encourage ignoring FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt).

Real-Time Report

Follow us as we report the latest updates as the Huobi arrest event unfolds:

Timeline of Events:

August 3, 2023, 8:00 p.m.:

Adam Wang (王晖)，Head of Human Resources (HR) at Huobi, was taken away by the police at his home in Beijing.

August 3, 2023, 11:00 p.m.:

Huobi CEO, Rocky Zhao (赵苏杭), urgently notified the heads of various departments in Beijing in Singapore, requesting to evacuate the country as quickly as possible and fly to Singapore.

Zhao learnt from Justin Sun that the authorities were clamping down on major exchanges in China, he advised his colleagues to leave the country as soon as possible; all the while not mentioning Adam Wang's arrest.

Huobi's human resources department notified everyone to work from home for a week, and then wait for news.

August 4, 2023:

Lei Li(李磊), Technical Director of Huobi, was restricted from leaving the country, and then taken away by the police for interrogation

Lei Li fingered Huobi employees Zhang Da and Wang Xuanfeng as being involved.

The two operations executives were then also taken away by the police.

August 5, 2023:

Huobi's Finance team was taken away by the police.

August 5, 2023:

Inner Mongolia police and Beijing police being marshalling resources to build case against Adam Wang, with the intent of charging him for illegal casino operatons.

According to whistleblowers, Adam Wang was suspected to have participated in a large-scale telecommunications fraud project in Inner Mongolia and Shandong.

Police have since been watching his activities.

After Adam Wang became the person in charge of Huobi's HR in 2023, he allegedly took advantage of his position to further engage in illicit activities.

August 5, 2023, 6:00 p.m.:

A employee in Huobi Shenzhen was taken away.

August 5, 2023, 9:00 p.m.:

Rocky Zhao holds another emergency meeting, with both him and Justin Sun expressing their displeasure at the leak of information beyond official HR channels.

They emphasise that the incident is just a misunderstanding and tell everyone not to panic.

They also state that those who wish to come to Singapore (where they are based) are welcome to; those that don't intend to are similarly welcome to stay put.

According to sources within Huobi, no one believed the rhetoric that was presented by both leaders.

At present, some persons in charge have already entered Singapore, and they are unsure about when they will be able to return to China.

There are currently no news of potential bail release or charges for Adam Wang, Leon Li, the finance team, and the two operations executives.