The community has advised users to remove funds in response to rumours that the cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has fired employees and shut off internal communications.
Huobi advisor Justin Sun dismissed claims of alleged insolvency in a tweet on January 5 by stating that the exchange’s business development was “good” and that “security of users’ assets will always be fully protected.”
Sun also appeared to deny rumours of unsatisfied employees, declaring that Huobi will “fully respect the legal demands of local employees.”
Sun has allegedly changed their policy to pay employees in fiat instead of Tether (USDT) or USD Coin (USDC), according to a Jan. 3 report by cryptocurrency journalist Colin Wu. Wu stated that employees who objected to the change might be fired.
Justin Sun’s HR is communicating with all Huobi employees to change the salary form from fiat currency to USDT/USDC; employees who cannot accept it may be dismissed. The move sparked protests from some employees. Exclusive https://t.co/QB4sjDyHc7
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) January 4, 2023
Wu claimed in December, citing informants, that Huobi had cancelled year-end bonuses and was getting ready to lay off as many as half of its 1,200 employees. He added that s Some employees protested the decision to switch the salary payment from fiat to stablecoins.
The exchange’s “communication group with internal employees” had allegedly been shut down, and “all communication and feedback channels with employees” had been blocked, according to a tweet from the BitRun account on January 4.
According to BitRun, Huobi personnel might stage a coup as they could “directly rug away user assets or programmers add backdoor Trojan horses” — especially considering that such practise was not protected by domestic laws.