By Laura Desmond

Chinese cryptocurrency exchange Huobi confirmed the opening of its London office June 28, with over-the-counter (OTC) trading tests set to begin in Q3 this year.

In a press release shared with Cointelegraph, Huobi, which claims to have a global user base of “more that five million,” continued its recent narrative that expansion into Europe was a priority, with London a deliberate choice for basing its new operations.

“London was selected as the first office in Europe, due to its preeminence as a global financial center and the largest cryptocurrency trading centre in the region with an active blockchaincommunity and fast developing market,” the exchange wrote in praise of the local UK landscape.

“Huobi’s UK growth will be supported by high quality finance and technology talent pools and an open cryptocurrency regulatory environment.”

The move follows similar decisions from other major exchange industry players, most conspicuous among which is Binance, once the world’s biggest operator by volume, which movedto Malta in April.

At the same time, Cointelegraph reported, Huobi set its sights on London, privileging the location above all others as its “Europe gateway.”

“Not Malta, not Switzerland. Absolutely London, more precisely Britain,” Huobi Group vice president Peng Hu said.

Huobi plans to offer OTC trading throughout the European market. Its new presence in London should “provide improved access to European financial markets and will enable UK-based blockchain and crypto asset startups to benefit from Huobi Labs and the Huobi Ecosystem Fund,” it added.

Spearheading the operation will be Lester Li as European Exchange Director and Josh Goodbody as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Huobi UK.

As of press time, Huobi is the third largest crypto exchange in the world at around $500 million in daily trade volume, according to Coinmarketcap.