Huobi Group announced during the annual San Francisco Blockchain Week plans to establish a new team and a business line of products and services targeted toward institutional clients. The initiative, named Global Institutional Business (GIB), will see the creation of a team to offer and support services including contracts, exclusive benefits for VIP traders, and a dedicated fiat desks for institutional clients, as well as additional plans for custody services. This year’s San Francisco Blockchain Week saw notable guests in attendance including Consensys Founder Joseph Lubin, Libra Representative Kevin Weil, and SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce.

In a keynote address from Chris Lee, CFO of Huobi Group, Lee highlighted the growing involvement of and feedback from institutions such as traditional hedge funds, banks, and tech giants as the primary motivations behind the establishment of GIB. With over 1,000 institutional clients onboarded, Huobi Global reported around 500% growth in the number of institutional traders on its platform. “We’ve seen increasing demand for products and services catered toward institutional clients this year,” Announced Lee, “And with GIB, Huobi has once again attracted notice as a leading comprehensive cryptocurrency and blockchain solutions company.”

Initial phase of GIB will not only see the establishment of a new business line of products and services for institutional clients, but will also see it backed by Huobi’s competitive All-Star Tiered Fees and relationship management services with 24/7 dedicated onboarding, product, and technical support. Local offices in London and Singapore will also offer regional support to European and APAC markets. “There is strong demand in the timeliness of customer support and professionalism from the team and the platform, especially as market sentiment increase and regulations solidify,” Explained Lee.

According to a report from Fidelity, nearly 1 in 4 institutional investors already have some exposure to digital assets, signaling that institutional adoption is already well underway. Moreover, institutional confidence in the cryptocurrency market is rising at an unprecedented pace as the regulatory landscape stabilizes and traditional financial institutions like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) normalize digital assets. The same report highlights that 40% of institutional investors are open to future investments in digital assets.

Lee described the goal of Huobi’s new Institutional business as providing end-to-end comprehensive client services. Coinmarketcap consistently rates Huobi Global highly in metrics relating to trading activity and features. Both Tokeninsight and ICORating have ranked Huobi among the safest exchanges. Offering services to 130+ countries around the world, Huobi has also established compliant operations in Korea, Japan, and Gibraltar.