HTX Review 2026

HTX is one of the longest-running cryptocurrency exchanges in the industry. The platform was founded in 2013 under the name Huobi and has been steadily evolving ever since. In terms of trading volume, instrument variety and liquidity depth, it consistently ranks among the market leaders: cumulative trading volume on the platform has surpassed $33 trillion, with roughly $3.3 trillion settled in 2025 alone — a 39% year-over-year increase. According to CoinGecko data for 2025, HTX holds the 9th spot globally by spot trading volume, with a market share of approximately 6% and annual volume growth of +35.6%. By the first quarter of 2026, the platform had registered more than 59 million users.

For many investors, HTX is still better known under its old name. In September 2023, at the TOKEN2049 event in Singapore and in celebration of the exchange's 10th anniversary, Huobi officially rebranded as HTX. The new name stands for Huobi + TRON + eXchange, while the letter X also represents the Roman numeral ten. Management linked the decision to difficulties Western audiences had pronouncing "Huobi" and to a stronger push into global markets. The rebrand followed a major internal shift: back in October 2022, control of the exchange had passed to entrepreneur Justin Sun (the founder of TRON). In the platform's official materials he is listed as Global Advisor of HTX, with Molly Zheng serving as public spokesperson and Head of HTX MO Centre. A sitting chief executive officer (CEO) is not named on any publicly accessible page of the site — an unusual choice for an exchange of this size.

HTX is a centralized exchange (CEX) incorporated in the Seychelles, with offices in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the United States. The platform is available in more than 160 countries, supports over 700 cryptocurrencies and roughly 900–1,000 trading pairs, and offers the full range of services: spot, futures with leverage up to 100x, copy trading, peer-to-peer (P2P), staking, Earn products and over-the-counter (OTC) trading. In 2025–2026, HTX also built out a dedicated TradFi line — futures contracts on tokenized equities (xStocks), gold, silver, crude oil and major stock indices. Alongside the core business, the company maintains its own infrastructure: the HECO Chain blockchain, the HTX DAO community and the HTX Research division.

HTX Exchange Rating

HTX remains a balanced platform, with standout strengths in trading services and reserve transparency. At the same time, the events of 2023 have shifted its regulatory and reputational weight. Below are our updated scores across the key dimensions:

Overall Score	8
Fees	8
Security & Regulation	7
Markets	9
Passive Income	9
Account Opening	9
Deposits & Withdrawals	7
Trading Platforms	10
Analytics	8
Education	9
Customer Support	8
Bonuses	9

Pros and Cons

No trading venue is perfect — each has its own trade-offs. We examined HTX from several angles and highlighted the main points:

Key Information

HTX is one of the most recognizable brands on the market, with a history spanning more than 12 years. The core platform parameters as of 2026:

HTX's fee policy in 2026 is competitive for active traders and average for newcomers. Over the past few years, the exchange has fully rebuilt its discount system: the old flat scale tied to HT holdings has given way to a multi-tier Prime program covering spot and futures, with dedicated rules for copy trading and Earn. The main pros and cons:

Trading fees

For spot markets, HTX uses the Prime system: moving to the next tier is triggered by satisfying one of three criteria — 30-day trading volume, total portfolio balance, or the number of HTX tokens held in the account. The base tier is the same for everyone, while the top levels are on par with industry leaders.

On the derivatives market, rates drop further. For USDT-margined futures, the base commission is 0.02% for makers and 0.06% for takers; at Prime 11, makers trade for free, while takers pay 0.025%. On Coin-margined contracts from Prime 6 and above, the platform pays the maker a rebate — a negative rate that rewards liquidity provision. In addition, paying fees in HT or HTX unlocks a 25% discount, which is especially valuable at the lower Prime tiers.

Non-Trading Fees

Crypto deposits remain free. Withdrawals are subject to a network fee that depends on the coin and the current network load. Indicative values:

• BTC — 0.0005 BTC
• ETH — variable, roughly 0.001 ETH on average
• LTC — 0.001 LTC
• XRP — 0.1 XRP
• USDT (TRC-20) — 1 USDT

Fiat withdrawals have become more restrictive compared to prior years. Bank transfers in Euro (EUR) and British pound sterling (GBP) are charged at roughly 0.15% plus a fixed fee of €1 or £1. Domestic USD transfers via SEN or SWIFT are typically free, but the list of available fiat channels depends on the user's country, verification level and banking partner. For most users outside a handful of supported jurisdictions, the P2P marketplace is the primary option.

Average Fees Compared to Competitors

After the bankruptcy of FTX in November 2022, prior comparisons with that exchange no longer apply. The current picture looks like this:

At entry level, HTX loses out to both main competitors: 0.2% versus 0.1% at Binance and Bybit. At the top of the Prime ladder, however, the gap almost disappears — for VIP traders, HTX stays competitive, with a clear path to lower rates through the HTX token, trading volume or portfolio balance.

Margin Lending

The company's legal history follows a path familiar to many Chinese-founded exchanges. HTX started as Huobi, formally registered in China, then obtained permissions in Hong Kong and, after Beijing's policy shift toward cryptocurrencies, relocated its incorporation to the Seychelles. In 2021, the exchange fully wound down operations on mainland China, and in October 2022 a controlling stake passed to Justin Sun. The rebrand to HTX in September 2023 was a logical continuation of this evolution and part of a broader international strategy.

The licensing picture is mixed. Seychelles incorporation implies no substantive financial license — this is standard practice for centralized exchanges. The Huobi Japan subsidiary, which secured an FSA license in 2019 after merging with BitTrade, continues to operate as an independent company, while the htx.com domain itself lists Japan among the restricted jurisdictions. In May 2024, HTX — alongside Binance, OKX, Gate.io and KuCoin — withdrew its VATP application with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, citing the regulator's strict requirements. Since October 8, 2023, the United Kingdom's FCA has flagged HTX (and the accompanying huobi.com domain) in its warning list as an unauthorized firm, with the entry updated again in 2026.

Unlike the earlier Huobi years, when serious security incidents were rare, 2023 proved to be a difficult year for the platform. On September 24, attackers withdrew roughly $7.9 million in ETH from a hot wallet — immediately afterward, Justin Sun announced the creation of a Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) to cover potential losses. A much larger wave followed in November: on the 10th, Sun-affiliated exchange Poloniex lost about $100 million, and on November 22, attackers drained roughly $30 million from HTX and an additional $86.6 million from the HECO Chain bridge. Public data showed that HTX net outflows exceeded $258 million over the following two weeks, but according to the platform, all affected users received compensation.

After these incidents, the exchange meaningfully tightened its transparency regime. HTX publishes a monthly Proof of Reserves (PoR) report built on a Merkle tree, with independent third-party verification. As of April 2026, reserves have stayed above 100% for 42 consecutive months: BTC — 100%, ETH — 108%, USDT — 102%, TRX — 107%, HTX — 102%. The April report also logged net reserve additions of +142 BTC, +538 ETH and +91.78 million TRX, and introduced a unified USDs aggregation model that consolidates USDT, USDC and other dollar-backed stablecoins. On top of this, the platform maintains a separate 20,000 BTC reserve fund earmarked for covering costs in case of new force majeure events. Taken together, the current protection level is stronger than in 2022 — but the historical context of the hacks and the FCA warning should be factored in when assessing risk.

HTX offers a broad trading lineup: spot, USDT- and Coin-margined futures, options, copy trading, trading bots, P2P and OTC. By total coin count, the platform trails Binance and Bybit, but it holds strong positions on the derivatives market, where contracts with multiple expiration schedules are available.

Pros and Cons of HTX's Market Selection

Deep integration with the TRON ecosystem sets HTX apart from competitors: users interact directly with TRX, receive airdrop distributions on the TRON network, and rely on fast and low-cost USDT-TRC20 transfers. The exchange's legacy HUSD stablecoin was delisted in October 2022 after two depeg incidents (down to $0.84 in August and $0.28 in October), with user balances automatically converted to USDT at a 1:1 ratio.

HTX Markets

An updated comparison with the main competitors:

In terms of spot instruments, HTX is roughly on par with Bybit and behind Binance; for futures and options, it holds solid competitive ground. The NFT segment has weakened across all major exchanges since 2023 — HTX is no exception and is currently focused on trading, Earn products and DAO governance.

Cryptocurrencies – Spot

The spot market carries over 700 coins and approximately 900–1,000 trading pairs. Users have access to both classic USDT, USDC and BTC pairs and quotes against TRX, HTX and several less common stablecoins. For some major assets, fiat-quoted pairs remain available — an important trust signal for part of the user base.

Cryptocurrencies — Derivatives Market

The derivatives market is one of HTX's strongest sections. The lineup covers USDT-margined and Coin-margined futures with leverage up to 100x, selected derivative instruments with leverage up to 200x, and options on BTC and ETH. Futures are offered with several expiration schedules:

• Weekly
• Bi-weekly
• Quarterly
• Perpetual

In 2025, HTX specifically deepened its liquidity pools and rolled out Copy Trading 4.0 integrated directly into the futures terminal. The number of copy traders grew significantly in late 2025, cementing copy trading among the platform's key directions. In the first quarter of 2026, HTX added a dedicated TradFi zone: over 22 new assets were introduced on the derivatives market, including tokenized xStocks equities (TSLAx, MSTRx, CRCLx, AMZNx), gold, silver, crude oil and major stock indices. The total number of tradable futures instruments on HTX has surpassed 276.

The Earn line on HTX has been substantially rebuilt over the past few years. The legacy Huobi Earn with headline rates up to 88% APY has been replaced by a more structured lineup, where yield depends on the product type, Prime tier and current promotional campaigns. The main directions as of April 2026:

• Flexible Earn for stablecoins. Open-ended deposits of USDT, USDC, USDD, U and USD1 yielding up to 15% APY through tiered platform subsidies. In the first quarter of 2026, HTX also launched Flexible Earn for USDe and USAT — subscriptions across these products exceeded $110 million.
• VIP Flexible. The flagship product for Prime 5 users and above: up to 9% APY on USDT with an individual cap of 100,000 USDT per user.
• Fixed Earn. Lock-ups over 7, 14, 30 or 90 days with higher rates.
• Staking. Major proof-of-stake (PoS) coins are supported, including Cardano (ADA), Cosmos (ATOM), TRX, Solana (SOL) and Polkadot (DOT); lock-up terms and rates vary by period.
• ETH staking. After Ethereum's transition to PoS in September 2022, HTX allows users to participate in ETH staking without running their own node.
• Dual Investment. A structured dual-currency product with a pre-defined price range.
• HTX Earn Carnival. Periodic campaigns with additional prizes, including Apple product giveaways.
• SmartEarn. An automated strategy with no entry threshold, no lock-up and daily rewards. In the first quarter of 2026, peak APY reached 7.21%, with a 2.68% quarterly average. A further major product update is scheduled for 2026.

HTX Referral Program

The referral program has been refreshed and now operates in two modes. A regular user earns up to 30% cashback on the trading fees of invited traders, while HTX Affiliate status raises this rate up to 60%. Rewards accrue on the invitee's spot and futures trades and scale with their trading volume. Referrers typically also get a new-user promotion to share — a fee discount of up to 50% for the first 30 days and a welcome bonus. The older 2022-era terms (a two-year duration and a $5,000 cap per referral) are not confirmed in current official materials, so the exact parameters are best verified in the Referral section of the account.

The registration flow has changed little: the basic procedure takes 5–10 minutes, after which most platform features become available. The difference from prior years lies in the number of KYC tiers: a third level, Investment Capability Assessment, has been added for high-value transactions.

Who Can Trade on HTX?

Regional restrictions have expanded noticeably since 2022. As of April 2026, the following categories apply:

• Full service ban: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Syria, Sudan, Venezuela, Crimea.
• Payment-card and banking restrictions (in addition to the above): Russia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burundi, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Morocco, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen, Zimbabwe.

In late 2025, HTX launched operations in the Australian market with a local fiat on- and off-ramp via Australian banking partners, while continuing to upgrade its licensing to meet the new regulatory standards. In early 2026, HTX also became one of two global exchanges eligible to apply for Pakistan's inaugural virtual asset license.

Data is current as of the publication date of this review and is updated as the Service Agreement evolves. The status of any specific country should be confirmed on the official page before registration.

How to Open an Account on HTX:
Step-by-Step Guide

Registration takes no more than 10–15 minutes. The sequence is as follows:

Step

1

Click the registration button in the top right corner of htx.com.

Step

2

Choose the sign-up method — phone number or email — and set a password.

Step

3

Enter the verification code received in the chosen channel.

Step

4

Open the personal account section (the silhouette icon) and go to Identity Verification.

Step

5

Select the verification level that matches your intended activity. Basic verification requires a passport or ID card; extended verification adds proof of address; the third level requires a questionnaire on investment experience and source of funds.

Minimum Deposit on HTX

HTX Account Types

After basic registration, three verification levels are available — up from two in prior years, with the newly added Investment Capability Assessment tier for clients operating with large sums. HTX's official help materials confirm that completing verification unlocks withdrawals, while fully verified users can reach daily crypto withdrawal limits of up to 100 BTC. The platform does not publish a full Level 1 / 2 / 3 table for 2026 — the exact values are visible in each user's account.

Across all levels, 2FA, a separate trading password, an anti-phishing code and biometric login in the mobile app are supported.

Deposit options on HTX remain plentiful, but the list of fiat withdrawal rails has narrowed noticeably. The majority of ordinary users work through crypto or P2P, while direct bank transfers are available in a limited number of jurisdictions. In total, the platform supports more than 100 fiat currencies for deposits, including:

• USD — U.S. dollar
• EUR — Euro
• GBP — British pound sterling
• TRY — Turkish lira
• BRL — Brazilian real
• INR — Indian rupee
• RUB — Russian ruble
• UAH — Ukrainian hryvnia
• KZT — Kazakhstani tenge

For fiat withdrawals, three channels are confirmed in HTX's public documentation: USD bank transfers via partner Stable Universal (STCOINS Bank Transfer, with per-operation limits of $1,000 minimum and $1,000,000 maximum), TRY via AdvCash, and RUB via AdvCash. For Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH) and Kazakhstani tenge (KZT), HTX's help materials cover deposits but do not currently publish an active withdrawal guide — in practice, this runs through P2P. The P2P marketplace itself supports more than 90 payment methods and remains the default option for fiat operations in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.

Hundreds of cryptocurrencies are available for deposits, with BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, TRX, SOL and XRP among the key ones. Crypto deposits are free across the board.

Deposit and Withdrawal Methods and Processing Times

The HTX lineup covers the Web version, a desktop client for Windows and macOS, and mobile apps for iOS and Android. There is no dedicated Linux build, but the desktop client offers an extended order set and remains a favorite among active traders.

Feature Comparison Table

The iOS and Android clients are functionally almost identical; the desktop version is the most feature-rich and is aimed at active traders.

Trading Platforms. Comparison with Competitors

HTX's standout feature is the unusually high user ratings of its mobile client: as of today, it is one of the few apps among the top 10 exchanges with a rating of around 4.8 on Google Play across tens of thousands of reviews.

Trading Platform Features

Ranked by feature depth, the platforms line up as follows:

• Mobile apps for iOS and Android. Suited for market monitoring and quick actions. Basic order set, biometric login (Face ID, fingerprint), pattern code, and quick access to Earn and P2P.
• Web app. The primary working interface: an extended order set, embedded TradingView, copy trading, trading bots and convenient Prime-tier management.
• Desktop app. The full feature set, algorithmic orders and extended chart settings — the optimal choice for professional traders.

HTX runs its own research arm, HTX Research, which publishes market overviews, macroeconomic reports and coverage of new blockchain projects. Analytical output has grown more visible since the rebrand: HTX DAO publications on the platform's tokenomics, monthly PoR reports and quarterly operational updates have all been added.

HTX also runs a YouTube channel with leadership interviews, product walkthroughs and educational videos.

The exchange maintains an educational section covering the fundamentals of cryptocurrencies, terminal usage, margin trading mechanics and Earn products. In 2024–2025, materials on Copy Trading 4.0, DAO governance and the TRON ecosystem were added. A dedicated Learn and Earn track also rewards users with small crypto grants for completing educational modules.

HTX customer support operates 24/7 through several channels. The fastest line is the built-in live chat on the website and in the app, where the initial response from an operator typically arrives within minutes. A AI chatbot covers simple queries, while email and the ticket form handle more complex cases.

Communication Channels

The main channels for contact and news:

• Website: https://www.htx.com
• Live chat — bottom right corner of the website and app
• Email: [email protected]
• Telegram: https://t.me/htxglobalofficial
• X (Twitter): https://x.com/HTX_Global
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HTX_Global
• Medium / HTX Square: https://square.htx.com

Support Languages

HTX states that support is available in more than 10 languages, including:

The HTX bonus system in 2026 is structured differently from the Huobi era. Instead of a fixed welcome grid of $300, the platform runs combined campaigns with a rotating reward set. The main formats that appear side by side in HTX's official materials at the time of this review:

• Welcome Bonus up to 1,500 USDT — the base welcome grid tied to registration, first deposit and first trade tasks.
• Starter pack of 700 USDT + 90,000 SHIB. A typical task chain: sign up → deposit from 5 USDT → place a spot trade from 1 USDT. Completing the first three tasks within 48 hours after registration increases the reward tier; the bonus is claimed in Rewards Hub → Beginner's Tasks.
• Spring Gold Rush 2026 — a seasonal campaign with prizes up to 1 BTC.
• Earn Carnival — elevated APYs on stablecoins and prize pools, including Apple products.
• DAO rewards for governance voting and HTX token holdings.

Task breakdowns, reward sizes and regional availability vary from country to country and are updated regularly. The current lineup for any specific jurisdiction is most reliably verified in Rewards Hub → Promotions after logging in to the account.