It is becoming more evident a lot of Chinese Bitcoin exchanges are looking to reintroduce trading fees. This will not be to the liking of most Chinese speculators, though, as they enjoyed a zero-fee trading ecosystem for far too long. Huobi officially confirmed they are considering charging trading fees in the future, although nothing has been set in stone just yet.
Huobi Considers Trading Fees For Bitcoin
For the longest time, Chinese Bitcoin exchanges have not had any trading fees whatsoever. This is part of the reason why these platforms have been so successful over the past few years, as there is no penalty for buying and selling Bitcoin in high volumes every single day. However, that situation will come to change very soon.
Huobi is the second major Chinese Bitcoin exchange to consider introducing trading fees once again. It remains unclear if the company will effectively do so in the long run, though, as nothing has been officially confirmed as of yet. That said, the recent change in leveraged margin trading means these platforms earn less money, and revenue has to be generated somehow.
Huobi official announcement: We are considering charging trading fees. @huobicom https://t.co/L4rViAOShS pic.twitter.com/awgorjCDix
— cnLedger (@cnLedger) January 22, 2017
Similarly to all other Chinese Bitcoin exchanges, Huobi has reduced the options for its margin trading opportunities. Instead of offering 10-50x leverage, users are now limited to 1x. Since this market has become far less appealing to speculators due to this decision, companies such as Huobi are making far less money. After all, they do not charge trading fees for Bitcoin right now, which means a solution has to be found.
It only makes sense to see Chinese Bitcoin exchanges introduce trading fees over time. Huobi sees this opportunity as a way to reduce volatility and curb Bitcoin price speculation. That is a positive thing for Bitcoin as a whole, as the price should never be dictated by speculators, to begin with. The company is also communicating with other domestic and foreign exchanges to determine what level of trading fees may need to be introduced moving forward.
For the time being, it remains unclear if and when these fees could be introduced. Huobi has not made anything official, and the company has not provided a deadline for such an announcement either. Big changes will come to how Chinese Bitcoin exchanges operate, though, that much is certain at this point.
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