The Inside Story on the Eve of Huobi's Ownership Change, a Moment to Witness and Make History
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The Inside Story on the Eve of Huobi's Ownership Change, a Moment to Witness and Make History
Contribution from a Huobi "core employee"
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsNews during a bear market is always boring.
Recently, various rumors and disputes within Huobi have surfaced one after another, once again placing Brother Sun at the center of controversy. Whether it's Musk acquiring Twitter or Brother Sun taking over Huobi, layoffs, conflicts, cost reductions, and controversies follow closely. Major acquisitions inevitably bring internal tensions—it all comes down to how both sides manage to resolve them.
On January 7, an individual claiming to be a core employee of Huobi submitted an article through an intermediary, sharing his personal perspective on Brother Sun and the behind-the-scenes story of Huobi’s acquisition. Unlike most public criticisms, this employee offers a different viewpoint—one that represents another voice. We make no judgment; we simply publish it as requested anonymously. Below is the full text of the Huobi employee's submission: "The Eve of Huobi's Ownership Transfer: Witnessing and Creating History"
Author: A Core Employee at Huobi
For an ordinary office worker, October 8 marked the end of a holiday break. But for each of us involved in the transition at Huobi, it signified the conclusion of a relentless, round-the-clock handover process, as MuMu waved goodbye and new shareholders officially took control.
While being in the middle of it felt routine—just busier than usual—looking back from a distance reveals this as a landmark moment in the history of digital assets. The transaction amount surpassed the valuation of a unicorn company, and its execution was extraordinarily complex. From asset transfers to permissions, from business relationships to historical data reconciliation, there were no precedents to follow. As George put it, many aspects of this process were unprecedented in the industry. Upon reflection, it was anything but ordinary.
As someone who lived through it, I feel both relief and excitement. I’m writing this down to honor my fellow colleagues.
It all started in late July. The first signs appeared with plans to further separate Chinese (CN) user assets by migrating their holdings on the platform to an independent site. This move demonstrated responsibility toward already-exited CN users and helped ensure complete operational independence overseas.
The Mini-site project was personally led by General Hua, divided into major components including asset migration, Mini-site system development, and data transfer. The wallet team was among the earliest to get involved. By the time the project officially launched at the end of August, we had already analyzed the top 30 assets across 17 corresponding blockchains, mapped out overall asset distribution, examined current deposit/withdrawal behaviors of CN users, and established a clear implementation roadmap.
For the wallet team, the formal start of CN user separation also kicked off the handover, replacement of cold and hot wallet permissions, and related financial reconciliation planning.
Looking back now, from day one, much of our work was pioneering. How do you reconcile user and wallet assets totaling billions of USDT? How do you verify ownership, transfer control rights, or even change addresses for tens of millions of wallets? How do you match and audit tens of millions—or nearly a hundred million—on-chain records across hundreds of chains against database entries?
Over time, through collective effort, the team developed practical solutions to these challenges.
Starting September 13, dedicated teams from Wallet Query, Finance, IT, Big Data, and DW collaborated intensively. Finance set the rules, Big Data handled user-side data, IT organized finance-side information, and Wallet processed actual on-chain data. Everyone played their part—some generating reports daily, others delivering results within 15 minutes—providing solid support until the final reconciliation was complete.
One evening during a meeting with wallet teammates, the colleague responsible for reconciliation announced that the on-chain and database figures matched—only 350 USDT remained unaccounted for, due solely to unresolved historical wallet issues, not asset loss. Hearing this filled me with emotion and pride. When finance expert Scarlett mentioned that the company had been maintaining digital asset accounting since early 2014, I couldn’t help but feel deep respect—for both the consistency and accuracy achieved over the years.
When discussions about address replacement hit roadblocks, Liang Da’s asset handover team communicated creatively with the buyer’s tech team. They proposed allowing the buyer to understand the current system’s security mechanisms and private key storage protocols to build mutual trust, potentially simplifying procedures and accelerating the handover. That sounded ideal—we felt immediate relief. The wallet team had full confidence in our comprehensive security control framework, backed by proven track records across multiple asset transfers, with robust safety checks ensuring asset protection and rapid incident response. In reality, no one could access raw private keys; even encrypted ones required strict procedural controls. True to expectation, the hot wallet handover evolved into a process focused on permission transfer and explaining security workflows, greatly speeding up the entire procedure.
From the official launch of the CN site at the end of August through the National Day holiday, the dedication shown by members of the wallet team was deeply moving.
During address attestation implementation, colleagues Cui and Nie, who worked on the wallet signing machines, displayed remarkable perseverance. While simultaneously managing ETH’s historic hard fork upgrade, they completed program development for attestation and validation across 26 major public chains and tens of millions of addresses—all within just two weeks. During the handover phase, they successfully met verification targets in under two days.
During statistical analysis and asset transfer phases involving moving assets from hot to cold storage, the Wallet Core team, led by Hua Ge, persisted relentlessly. Despite discovering strange discrepancies between their data and the Query team’s late at night—receiving the task at 11 PM—they eventually identified and resolved the issue, completing the asset transfer operation at 6:57 AM the next morning.
On the final night of the handover, Lin Ge from the wallet data team and Jun Ge from the deposit/withdrawal team received snapshot calculation tasks every hour, returning results within 15 minutes. These were then consolidated and sent back to finance for final verification and decision-making. Again and again, they responded promptly and delivered swiftly.
Engineer Xiao Jiang, proficient in API usage and development, consistently performed under pressure. No matter the time, he accepted assignments without complaint, supporting project after project and ensuring a smooth handover.
There are countless other highlights. Throughout this tightly coordinated effort, people ignored job titles, holidays, and difficulty levels—everyone focused solely on results.
A special mention must go to the Heco handover. Initially, my focus was primarily on the CN site and wallet handover, and since I hadn’t participated in Heco’s preliminary coordination, I didn’t pay much attention to it.
But when the buyer sent their first feedback highlighting a discrepancy between Heco’s cross-chain bridge collateral and issuance amounts, Andrew assigned me to lead the response—and that’s when I realized Heco needed serious attention. Given its large asset volume, diverse asset types, complex permissions, and intricate relationships, I faced a small dilemma: should I dive deep into Heco myself, or bring in someone else to take charge? If I got too involved, would it affect the wallet handover and asset reconciliation? If not, who would be better suited? Then I thought—Mi Zong and the rest of the wallet team were already supporting the hot wallet side well, while Heco’s assets were mostly tied to cross-chain bridges, which fell squarely within my domain. I was likely the person with the most comprehensive and up-to-date technical and operational understanding. Bringing someone new in short-term might not work. So I proactively answered every question related to Heco assets and gradually took on responsibility for organizing Heco-related data and leading the handover.
As the handover date approached, we needed to finalize the Heco handover lead. After careful consideration, I recommended Andrew as the primary person in charge. First, as my manager, Andrew could mobilize broader technical resources related to Heco—important given the risk of me being unavailable on-site. Second, Andrew is meticulous and detail-oriented, and we’ve always worked seamlessly together. Our partnership would provide stronger assurance for the entire process. In hindsight, whether it was Andrew coordinating everyone on-site or driving collaboration throughout, the outcome not only met expectations but exceeded them.
On the night of the Heco handover, although I intermittently joined meetings to monitor progress and see if any input was needed, and although the overall framework and documentation followed my original plan, I spent most of that night supporting other projects. Yet, remarkably, this had zero impact on the Heco handover, which concluded successfully. I felt truly relieved and satisfied.
Throughout the entire handover process, there were many memorable moments and outstanding colleagues—including our new teammates.
Li Zong repeatedly emphasized compliance and user interests in meetings. Several colleagues continued working despite obvious colds, including Hua Zong and Mi Zong. Lizi’s words—whether written or spoken during meetings—sometimes revealed immense stress even through the screen, yet she pushed forward fearlessly. George, our candid and straightforward investment director, radiated both anxiety and energy through repeated calls and meetings.
Our female finance colleagues were always responsive—Shelly, scheduled for number-checking sessions at midnight or woken up by my call at 6 AM; Peony, pulled into meetings mid-shower with shampoo still in her hair. Liang Da wrote processes so detailed they reached what Shupeng Zong called “left-hand vs. right-hand door-opening level,” which deeply impressed and taught me a lot. Inspired, I drafted a 50+ step guide for a single permission transfer. The security team collaborated most extensively during this handover—Liang Ge patiently explained the principles and usage of our self-developed cold wallet program; Yu Ge repeatedly verified hot-to-cold and cold-to-hot transfer data, and even amid overwhelming tasks, quickly supported the funding of Heco handover transaction fees. Hua Ge and Lin Ge from the wallet team were always available—day or night, no need for voice messages, just a text would suffice. They quietly solved problems and provided data, steadily moving forward.
As the official handover neared, Andrew gave the order. Heco’s tech leads not only planned handover steps and verified execution details—they also became document reviewers and editors, collectively refining tables and adjusting formatting pixel by pixel. Andrew himself immersed deeply, fully grasping every step and ultimately compiling the *“Complete Checklist for Heco Permission Handover”* to orchestrate the entire process. Their precision and professionalism ensured the smooth execution of hundreds of complex smart contract operations.
On the buyer’s side, Frank, Elvis, Blue, Richard, and Cheng Ge—though never met in person—proved highly professional and thorough. Their questions and insights were sharp. At first, I didn’t fully understand their insistence on repeatedly tweaking minor data points, reformatting documents, or adding content—some requests even came across as urgent or intense. But internally, I genuinely admired the diligence and rigor of their due diligence team. Over time, mutual understanding deepened, and collaboration eventually flowed smoothly without needing excessive explanation.
These scenes have passed. This transaction has become reality. This is the history we created and witnessed together. With the holiday over and the curtain rising on a new chapter, Huobi colleagues have already swiftly moved into the next phase of work. Limited interactions with the new CEO have already conveyed genuine commitment—not just massive financial investment, but also deep personal engagement.
To have experienced such a monumental event, to have joined a company founded by Li Zong—one that has long upheld rigor and values, to have worked alongside such exceptional colleagues, to see that new leadership isn’t outsiders dictating to insiders, and to feel the CEO’s genuine care from day one—what more could one ask for? With so many reasons to be grateful, how can we not give our absolute best in this shared endeavor?
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