[Sponsored article] Huobi Tech saw its annual revenue jump 120.8 per cent on the back of a robust recovery in its manufacturing business and solid growth in its blockchain and virtual asset-related services, bringing it back into profitability. The company recorded total revenue of HK$610.7 million (US$78.3 million) for the year ended September 30, 2021, for a year-on-year increase of 120.8 per cent. Gross profit nearly trebled to HK$302.6 million, while profit attributable to owners of the company increased to HK$141.5 million. During the same period, Huobi Tech’s earnings per share registered at 46.03 HK cents. Revenue from blockchain and virtual asset-related services, including technology services and virtual asset ecosystems, reached HK$234.4 million, accounting for 38.4 per cent of Huobi Tech’s total revenue, a result of the drive to develop this aspect of its businesses. The crypto industry is still in its infancy, continuing to evolve, becoming more complex and triggering different responses from financial regulators around the world. Financial authorities globally have adopted a range of approaches to regulate the industry. Against this backdrop, Huobi Tech has accelerated its compliance process and secured impressive achievements with its subsidiaries. In March, Huobi Asset Management successfully obtained regulatory approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (Hong Kong SFC) to manage 100 per cent virtual asset portfolios, and subsequently launched five virtual asset-related funds. The company acquired Type 4 and Type 9 licences from the Hong Kong SFC in 2020, enabling it to offer securities advisory and asset management services to professional investors. Huobi Trust US, another subsidiary of Huobi Tech, obtained a Retail Trust Company licence (state of Nevada), and now provides custody services under the regulatory oversight of the Nevada Financial Institutions Division. In June, it became the main custodian for the HUSD stablecoin reserve – an important milestone for the company. Huobi Trust HK, a registered Trust Company under the Trustee Ordinance with a Trust or Company Service Provider (TCSP) licence, launched its business in May and experienced rapid growth in demand for its compliant virtual assets custody services. As of the end of September, its assets under custody exceeded US$2 billion. In November, Huobi Tech announced the launch of cryptocurrency lending services to meet the financing needs of institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. The services will be provided under Huobi Brokerage, a digital asset brokerage platform under Huobi Tech. Huobi Tech is committed to adhering to the requirements of regulators, keeping pace with the increasingly regulated market environment and actively seeking business expansion opportunities in global markets. Hong Kong and Singapore are among its target markets. The two cities have announced they are looking at passing regulations, both at the product level and exchange level, to establish more concrete requirements for crypto-exchanges to operate. As exchange platforms are an important part of the virtual assets ecosystem, Huobi Tech has mapped out its strategies for virtual asset-related and finance-related licences in these markets. Huobi Singapore has applied to the Monetary Authority of Singapore to be licensed under the Payment Services Act 2019 as a Major Payment Institution, providing, for instance, digital payment token services. At the same time, Huobi Tech has plans to apply for Type 1 and Type 7 licences under the Hong Kong SFC, through its subsidiary, Huobi HK. The licence will enable Huobi HK to engage in the trading of virtual assets, including security token trading for professional investors. To further boost future growth, Huobi Tech and the Division on Investment and Enterprise of the Kyrgyz Republic (DIAE) entered into a non-legally-binding memorandum of understanding with regards to business cooperation in the Kyrgyz Republic. In respect of this, DIAE and Huobi Tech agreed to implement cryptocurrency exchange projects, develop mutually beneficial business partnerships and contribute to the development of Kyrgyzstan’s digital economy. In addition to the momentum generated by virtual asset-related financial services, blockchain-related businesses also contributed to growth. The technology solutions business achieved revenue of approximately HK$99.2 million, gross profit of HK$24.1 million and a corresponding gross profit margin of 24.3 per cent. Huobi Tech provides data-centre and cloud-based services to global customers in blockchain, virtual assets, fintech and big data, as well as other innovative technology sectors. Huobi Tech also provides SaaS (software as a service) to customers, giving them access to virtual asset-trading technology software in a hosted environment. This includes maintaining, supporting, developing and customising the software to operate a virtual asset-trading platform. During the period ending September 30, 2021, the business achieved substantial growth, with revenue reaching HK$122.5 million, increasing 174 times compared with the same period last year. The gross profit reached HK$111.6 million, and the gross profit margin stood at 91.1 per cent. Huobi Tech’s manufacturing sector realised considerable growth in business revenue and gross profit during the same period, benefiting from a resumption of production and its target market’s gradual recovery. During the period ending September 30, 2021, its revenue from the manufacturing business hit HK$376.3 million, recording 55.3 per cent year-on-year growth. Aiming to become the leading one-stop virtual asset-service platform in Asia, Huobi Tech plans to aggressively develop its virtual asset-related and blockchain-related businesses to sustain steady growth in the future, and believes the contribution from these sectors will continue to grow.