The news of Huobi’s $HT token drop has rocked the cryptocurrency community, as one of the top exchanges for digital assets is now reportedly cutting back on its operations. Reports indicate that Huobi is reducing headcount, requiring employees to take their salaries in stablecoins, and closing internal staff communication channels – all in an effort to cut costs. This move has been seen by some as a sign of the times, with the crypto industry still in its infancy and yet to see mainstream adoption.

In addition, many have speculated that this could be a sign of weakening confidence in the cryptocurrency market, given that exchanges such as Huobi are now taking cost-cutting measures. It remains to be seen how the market will respond in the coming days, with many investors now likely to be more cautious about investing in digital assets. Overall, it appears that Huobi’s $HT token is set for a rocky period ahead.

Huobi token trades at $4.77, after suffering a sharp fall toward $4.3326

This news follows a recent rally in digital assets, with both Bitcoin and Ethereum continuing to surge. It remains unclear if the recent sell-off was sparked by Huobi’s internal restructuring or simply part of a broader market correction. Exchange volume has dropped by 23% as market concern grows around the health of Huobi.

In a discussion with Hong Kong’s SCMP, Huobi adviser Justin Sun denied the exchange’s layoff plans. Nevertheless, an official spokesperson for the company later authenticated their intentions to decrease personnel by 20%.

CoinGecko data shows that Huobi’s HT token has fallen by nearly 11% during the last 24 hours, to $4.67 as of morning East Asia time. The token is down nearly 30% over the past month.

During the last 24 hours, the measurement of normalized volume at the exchange is down 23% to $395 million from $510 million.Shockwaves reverberated through the company when WuBlockchain first reported news of layoffs and mandated salary payments in stablecoins. Employees were faced with a difficult choice; accept being paid in crypto, or be dismissed. Reports on Twitter also indicated that staff had been barred from internal communications channels.

Worry has grown surrounding Huobi’s reserves after its integration with FTX. As reported by CryptoQuant, of all exchanges, Huobi is the most reliant on its token to back its funds; 60% of holdings are non-token based. The ‘cleanest’ exchange reserves as indicated by CryptoQuant belong to OKX and Deribit at 100%.

Last year, Huobi founder Leon Li sold his controlling stake in the company to buyout firm About Capital Management (HK) Co.

As per CoinMarketCap, the Huobi Token peaked at $9.40 in late October, with a 24-hour volume then of $52.50 million. Its price on today was $4.78, and volume was down to $21,196,641.