Chinese crypto exchange Huobi has acquired Latin American crypto exchange Bitex to expand its presence in the region, Huobi said Thursday.
- Huobi plans to integrate Bitex's exchange platform into its global platform, the company said in a statement. Bitex will continue to operate under its current name and management team in Latin America, Bitex CEO Francisco Buero told CoinDesk.
- Bitex was founded in 2014 and operates in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Bitex is about to begin operations in Peru and plans to expand "soon" into other as-yet-unnamed Latin American countries, Buero said. He excluded Brazil from the list of countries for now.
- With more than 200,000 accounts open, Bitex serves individuals, high-net-worth clients and corporate customers, Buero said.
- In February, Huobi announced it planned to re-enter the U.S. market after suspending its business in China to comply with a local ban on crypto transactions. From September to December last year, Huobi lost about a third of its revenue, company co-founder Du Jun said recently.