HTX Global

HTX Exchange

HTX (formerly Huobi) was founded in 2013 by Leon Li and re-branded in September 2023. Now headquartered in Singapore/Seychelles, the exchange claims 45–47 million users across 160 + countries and reports around US $4 billion in daily spot volume (2025).

Key Features

• Extensive asset list — 700 + cryptocurrencies and 1 000 + trading pairs.
• Multiple market types — spot, margin up to 5 ×, and derivatives futures up to 200 × leverage.
• Tiered, competitive fees — base spot maker/taker 0.20 %, falling to ≈ 0.012 % for VIP tiers or when paying with HT token; futures maker/taker about 0.02 % / 0.05 %.
• High-yield earn products — staking, Launchpool dual rewards, crypto loans, and leveraged ETPs.
• Advanced tooling — copy trading, trading bots, TradingView charts, and robust REST / WebSocket APIs.
• Cross-platform access — full-featured iOS / Android apps plus a web terminal.
• Security stack — 98 % + cold storage, Merkle-tree proof-of-reserves (published monthly), 2-factor auth, address whitelisting.
• Select global licences — permissions in Thailand, Japan, Gibraltar, and Hong Kong (asset management), though still largely unregulated in many regions.

Points to Consider

• Recent hacks — US $7.9 million hot-wallet breach (Sept 2023) and ≈ US $100 million HECO/HTX exploit (Nov 2023); users were reimbursed, but reputation took a hit.
• Regulatory exclusions — service unavailable to users in the U.S., mainland China, Singapore, Venezuela, and other restricted regions.
• Volume credibility — some analytics sites flag a gap between reported and “real” volume, hinting at possible wash-trading.
• Mixed user sentiment — low Trustpilot scores citing withdrawal delays and slow support.
• Ownership & transparency questions — Justin Sun’s involvement and an offshore structure (Seychelles) raise governance concerns.
• Proof-of-reserves vs full audit — publishes Merkle proofs, but still lacks an independent, comprehensive third-party reserve audit.

Bottom Line

HTX offers deep liquidity, hundreds of assets, and ultra-high-leverage derivatives at competitive fees — an attractive toolbox for experienced traders outside restricted regions. Nevertheless, recent security incidents, uneven transparency, and regulatory grey areas warrant cautious sizing and thorough due diligence before committing large balances.