Hotbit

Hotbit

Hotbit was established in 2017 by founder Ming Guo, launching as a centralized exchange that quickly gained traction among retail crypto traders. The platform operated under Estonian registration and maintained a presence in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Seoul. Hotbit supported spot trading for over 1,000 cryptocurrency pairs, margin trading with up to 10x leverage, and staking products with varying lock-up periods. The platform also listed smaller-cap and newly minted tokens that larger rivals avoided, creating a niche for speculative activity. Geographic coverage spanned Asia, Europe, and Africa. The exchange suspended all trading, deposits, and withdrawals on August 12, 2022, citing a combination of factors including a decline in user activity, market volatility, and operational challenges (per official announcement, August 2022). Team size at its peak was estimated at roughly 100 employees across its offices. Hotbit operated without the institutional backing that characterized larger exchanges such as Binance or Coinbase. Its lack of a dedicated family office or corporate venture arm meant it relied on trading fees alone for revenue, leaving it exposed when market activity contracted.