The deal could be one of the biggest ever in the crypto industry.
The founder of crypto exchange Huobi Global, Leon Li, is in talks to sell a majority stake in the company in a transaction that would value the firm at $3 billion or more, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
Li is looking to sell almost 60% of the firm, and has held preliminary talks with Tron founder Justin Sun and FTX, the crypto exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
In a tweet, Sun denied any involvement.
Seychelles-based Huobi is one of the largest crypto exchanges, with a daily trade volume of over $1 billion, according to CoinGecko.
If concluded, the deal would be one of the biggest ever in the crypto industry. The downturn in the crypto market has forced many of the biggest firms to cut costs and jobs, however this could be the first instance of a majority stake sale by one of the bigger crypto firms.
Huobi’s existing investors, which includes ZhenFund and Sequoia China, were informed about Li’s decision during a shareholder meeting last month, the report added.
A deal could be completed as soon as the end of this month, the report noted. Li is seeking an overall valuation of $2 billion-$3 billion, which means that the stake sale could fetch upwards of $1 billion, the report said.
FTX has made a slew of offers to acquire crypto companies during the recent market downturn, snapping up Japanese exchange Liquid in April before agreeing to acquire Canadian trading platform Bitvo two months later. It also has a deal in place to purchase lending platform BlockFi for up to $240 million.
FTX has also been eyeing up purchases of Celsius Network and Voyager Digital, both of which filed for bankruptcy in July.
After the Bloomberg report was published, Huobi’s native token HT jumped nearly 25% to $5.43, hitting a high of $5.80 at one point.
Tron founder and CEO Justin Sun denied that acquisition talks had taken place.
Huobi Global, Tron and FTX did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.