A crypto exchange Huobi’s subsidiary – HBIT Inc – reportedly managed to secure its Money Services Business (MSB) license from the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Specifically, The Seychelles-headquartered Huobi division reportedly revealed that the license is to establish a foundation for it to conduct crypto-associated business in America in the long haul, as included in the scope of its strategic targets of “globalization and compliance.” 

The exchange is a major player, with over $1 billion in volume in the past 24 hours, per insights generated by CoinGecko.

Prior to the major crypto scrutiny from Chinese governments, the majority of Huobi users is situated in China, but as suggested by the most recent figures from Statista, most users in February this year came from Russia and Ukraine.

The MSB license reportedly makes it possible for Huobi’s subsidiary to carry out the transmission of money and function as a fiat currency exchange – a stage mandated by U.S. regulators to ensure FinCEN can monitor financial crimes like money laundering.

Nonetheless, it provides no legal authorization for the firm to offer crypto-exchange services – which would need a money transmitter license. It says in the future, it expects to provide U.S. users with a compliant digital asset service.

Huobi additionally revealed that its subsidiaries in Hong Kong have also managed to snatch asset management and securities advising licenses from the nation’s Securities and Futures Commission.

The subsidiaries are also working on the application for a license to offer automated trading services and securities trading, to turn into a fully compliant crypto-exchange in Hong Kong.

On June 21, the exchange won licenses in New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. The latter was an Innovation License which, while not a trading license, allows it to access the local tech industry and get special tax treatment.