BitVC, the Hong Kong-registered subsidiary of China-based digital currency exchange Huobi, has officially opened its margin trading and digital currency savings accounts to the international public.
Huobi’s margin trading platform BitVC and its ‘Yubibao’ wallets, which also function as interest-bearing savings accounts, had been in an invitation-only beta phase since June.
Speaking to CoinDesk, Huobi’s Robert Kuhne said that more than 5,000 users had signed up and used their accounts during this trial period, with about 30% of current BitVC account holders residing outside mainland China.
Kuhne went on to discuss how the company’s Yubibao wallets were proving especially popular, and that the company’s recent international awareness efforts had spurred enrollment, saying:
“At The North American Bitcoin Conference (TNABC) bitcoin conference in Chicago last month, there was quite a lot of interest from the media and attendees, with many people asking for invitation codes. But now BitVC registration is open to everyone.”
Yubibao savers earned a cumulative total of 350 BTC over the trial period, he added.
Earning interest with ‘Yubibao’ wallets
Depositing funds into a Yubibao wallet implies that you are making those funds available for use by margin traders. Rather than users making individual loan offers and waiting in a queue as occurs with other similar systems, BitVC/Yubibao puts all available funds in a single pool for faster results for both traders and investors.
Yubibao wallet accounts are available automatically when a users registers an account with BitVC. These accounts are aimed more at regular consumers than professionals – there is no minimum amount a user can deposit, though there is a maximum of 500 BTC and 40,000 LTC.
Interest is paid daily, with the average rate hovering around 0.02-03%. BitVC guarantees Yubibao users’ funds – its system includes automatic margin calls to ensure traders have enough assets to ensure their loans, and the company says it maintains a large bitcoin reserve to cover any losses.
BitVC’s security measures include SMS verification, Google Authenticator, backup passwords and a backup contact should an account sit unused for a long period of time.
Courting the pro trader market
Other large Chinese and Asian exchanges, such as Beijing-based OKCoin and Hong Kong’s Bitfinex, have also sought to attract the region’s population of finance professionals with margin trading, live statistics and more full-featured mobile options.
Continuing regulatory uncertainty in the US also leaves traders in the world’s largest economy with no full-fledged local option, giving Asian and European exchanges a head start.
With BitVC, however, Huobi is the first Asian exchange to launch an entirely separate name and brand to separate more sophisticated operations like margin trading from its primary exchange business.
Images courtesy BitVC