On Wednesday (March 27), Huobi announced that the first initial exchange offering (IEO) on its new token launch platform “Huobi Prime” had gone extremely well, with the 1.5 billion Top Network (TOP) tokens on offer all sold out within just 19 seconds.

Before Huobi Prime went live for the first time on March 26th, we had been told by Huobi that this new platform offers “a better way to access cutting-edge crypto projects with a high potential for impact and growth – one designed not just for the deep pocketed and well connected but also for ordinary retail traders.”

Huobi, in a press release shared with CryptoGlobe, referred to Huobi Prime as “a Direct Premium Offering (DPO) platform,” and said that it offered a number of advantages over its rivals:

  • “All coins purchased through Huobi Prime are immediately deposited into user’s accounts and are tradable on Huobi Global against Huobi Token (HT), Huobi Group’s native token” with no “need to wait for presales or similar delays.”
  • “Rigorous screening and selection processes to ensure only premium projects that have yet to be listed on any major exchange are included.”
  • “Early access to coins at below market prices.”
  • “Access for both big and small players” (i.e. “open to retail investors, not just professionals or VIPs”)
  • “In order to mitigate periods of extreme volatility when the market opens, and to reduce the risk of adverse impacts on investors, a period of tiered price limits has also been added.”

Each token launch on Huobi Prime involves “three rounds of coin offerings, each lasting 30 minutes.” Although the price “will be capped,” this cap “will rise as time goes on.”

The honor of being the first token to be launched on Huobi Prime belonged to TOP, which is the native coin of TOP Network’s public blockchain Top Chain.

Huobi says that Huobi Prime’s inaugural launch “was met with enormous demand, with 3,764 users buying 1.5 billion TOP Tokens using Huobi Token (HT).” What is especially notable is that all 1.5 billion TOP tokens on offer were “sold out for all three rounds of trading, with the first round selling out of available tokens in 7 seconds, the second round in 5 seconds, and the third in 7 seconds” (i.e. within a total of 19 seconds across the three rounds).

Ross Zhang, Head of Marketing for Huobi Group, says:

“While we knew Huobi Prime’s inaugural launch of TOP would be popular, even we were amazed by the overwhelming response. We were thrilled to hold our opening launch with our great partners at TOP Network and we are humbled and honoured by how many people wanted to take part.”

TOP “has now been fully listed – and is freely tradable – on Huobi Global in the form of TOP/HT, TOP/BTC, TOP/USDT.”

Due to the insane popularity of this offering, “only about 3% of the 130k participants were able to purchase TOP.” Zhang wants those who are disappointed/upset that they were not able to buy any TOP tokens to know that Huobi plans to make some improvements for future Huobi Prime launches:

“We hear your concerns and we’re already working on ways to address them. Our goal remains making Huobi Prime the premier place to access premium coins for the broader crypto community, not just the few.”

Zhang also talked about the verification slider that participants need to use to complete their purchases:

“The slider is an anti-script and anti-bot safety mechanism and it is one of the standard methods we use to ensure trading is fair and equitable. We’ve found it to be quicker and easier than the more common CAPTCHA method but we will evaluate it as we continue to improve the user verification experience.”

Here are some of the highlights of the TOP Launch:

  • “Total participants: 130,000 (Approx.)”
  • “Total numbers of people who bought TOP: 3,764”
  • “Percentage Increase For TOP: 505.8% (as calculated from the 1st round of Prime to 12AM)”
  • “Ceiling Price for TOP in Each Round:
    • First Round: 1 TOP=0.000708 HT
    • Second Round: 1 TOP=0.000852 HT
    • Third Round: 1 TOP=0.001020 HT”
  • “TOP Sold (Overall Total): 1,500,000,000 allocated for Prime trading (7.5% of Total Token Supply)”
  • “TOP Sold (By Round): 1st Round: 300,000,000 TOP (Sold out in 7 secs) / 2nd Round: 450,000,000 TOP (Sold out in 5 secs), 3rd Round:750,000,000 TOP (Sold out in 7 secs).”

Yesterday, Huobi announced the second project to launch on Huobi Prime “is scheduled to launch on April 16 (GMT+8).” 

One last thing: if you have never used Huobi Prime before, on Tuesday, Huobi Global published a blog post that serves as an excellent guide to getting started with Huobi Prime.

Featured Image Courtesy of Huobi Group