About HTX

HTX is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2013 in Beijing as Huobi by Leon Li, then later rebranded to HTX. Today, the platform offers spot trading, futures, margin, earn products, custody-adjacent services, and a broader blockchain ecosystem spanning wallets, research, and incubation.

Current market trackers paint HTX as a high-liquidity venue. CoinMarketCap says it supports 700-plus assets, reports more than $4 billion in daily futures volume. CoinGecko lists 636 coins, 658 pairs, roughly $1.5 billion in 24-hour spot volume, and about $5.2 billion in reserves.

In 2026, HTX highlighted a January performance report that said it expanded fiat on- and off-ramps and pushed its user base to 58 million. Its own 2026 outlook also emphasized 2025 institutional progress, including a custody partnership with BitGo and added support for Fireblocks Off Exchange.

For reach, HTX says it serves users in more than 160 countries and regions across five continents, though availability still depends on local rules. You can access the exchange through a web browser, iOS, Android, HarmonyOS, and downloadable PC software for desktop trading.

HTX Features

HTX is for traders who want one platform for buying, active trading, passive yield, borrowing, automation, and account-level tools, with a feature mix spanning beginners, leveraged traders, copy traders, and more advanced users.

Trading Types

HTX’s trading stack covers simple buying, advanced markets, leveraged products, and automated strategies, giving users multiple ways to enter, manage, and scale crypto positions across spot and derivatives.
Main trading products include:

• Quick Trade: Users can buy virtual assets with cards, access fiat deposits, and use P2P matching, making HTX suitable for straightforward crypto purchases before moving into more advanced trading products.
• Spot Trading: HTX offers spot markets for direct crypto trading, alongside favorites and market monitoring tools that help users track pairs in real time and act on price opportunities quickly.
• Margin Trading: Margin trading lets users apply leverage to amplify potential profits, giving more active traders an extra layer of capital efficiency when managing short-term opportunities.
• ETP Trading: HTX includes ETP products designed to increase leverage exposure without liquidation risk, offering an alternative for users who want amplified market participation through a simplified structure.
• Convert: The convert function enables crypto-to-crypto swaps with zero fees and no slippage, making it useful for fast asset exchanges without entering a traditional trading interface.
• USDT-M Futures: HTX supports futures contracts settled in USDT, giving derivatives traders a stablecoin-margined route for speculation, hedging, and more flexible position management across supported markets.
• Coin-M Futures: Coin-margined futures are also available, allowing users to settle contracts in cryptocurrencies rather than stablecoins, which may appeal to traders managing collateral in native digital assets.
• Options: HTX lists both European-style and American-style options, giving users another derivatives layer for directional strategies, hedging, and more tailored risk management across different market conditions.
• Copy Trading: Copy trading allows users to follow expert traders automatically, which can appeal to less experienced participants seeking market exposure through strategies executed by more seasoned traders.
• Trading Bots: HTX includes automated trading bots with quantitative strategies, helping users systematize execution and reduce manual intervention when trading volatile crypto markets around the clock.

Earn Options

HTX also includes yield-oriented products for users who prefer passive strategies, structured returns, or crypto-backed borrowing, creating a broader financial layer beyond pure exchange-based buying and selling.
Core yield and borrowing tools include:

• Earn: The core Earn product is built for passive income on virtual assets, giving holders a straightforward way to put idle balances to work inside the HTX ecosystem.
• Dual Investment: Dual Investment is presented as a structured product with enhanced yields, aimed at users who want potentially higher returns through strategy-based allocation rather than standard holding alone.
• Staking: HTX supports staking for users who want to vote and receive rewards, giving token holders an additional way to participate in networks while earning yield.
• ETH 2.0: The platform also offers an ETH 2.0 product, positioning it as a route for users who want Ethereum-related yield exposure within HTX’s broader earn suite.
• Crypto Loans: Crypto Loans provide quick borrowing against digital assets, which can help users unlock liquidity for trading or other needs without immediately selling their holdings.
• OTC Loan: OTC Loan is designed for users seeking to scale up trades and profits, giving borrowers another financing option oriented toward larger or more active trading use cases.
• Brokerage Lending: HTX lists brokerage lending services that allow users to borrow and repay easily at any time, extending flexible financing options beyond standard exchange borrowing tools.

Additional Services

Beyond trading and yield products, HTX offers account services, institutional tooling, educational resources, promotional hubs, and developer access that broaden the platform into a more complete crypto ecosystem.
Supporting platform services include:

• Rewards Hub: Gves users access to daily crypto and other incentives, adding a recurring engagement layer for account activity and participation across the platform.
• NewListing: Helps users discover newly launched crypto projects, making it a useful section for traders who actively monitor fresh tokens and early-stage market opportunities.
• PrimeBox: PrimeBox adds a gamified rewards element, letting users access prizes and promotional offers that complement HTX’s trading-focused and yield-focused product lineup.
• Trading Competition: Let users compete on leaderboards, creating a more interactive environment for active traders who want incentives tied to performance and trading volume.
• Launchpool: HTX includes Launchpool within its broader activities layer, giving users another pathway to engage with supported tokens and platform campaigns.
• Claim $HTX: The $HTX Zone includes a daily task-and-rewards flow centered on claiming HTX-related incentives, which adds a loyalty-style mechanism within the exchange environment.
• Institutional Services: HTX lists institutional services for larger or professional participants, indicating support beyond retail users and extending the platform toward business and higher-volume trading needs.
• API Access: API documentation and an open platform are available for users who want programmatic access, integrations, or custom workflows built around HTX trading and account functions.
• Learning Tools: HTX Learn and Futures Academy provide educational resources, helping users better understand crypto markets, exchange functions, and derivatives before deploying capital.
• Affiliate Tools: The platform also includes affiliate, broker, and market maker programs, extending HTX beyond end-user trading into partnership, liquidity, and business development channels.

HTX User Reviews

When we researched HTX across major review platforms, we observed a mixed-to-negative reputation overall, with the sharpest criticism on Trustpilot and more balanced, though still moderate, scores on mobile app stores.

The pattern suggests user sentiment varies by channel: public complaint sites skew heavily critical, while app-store feedback points to a more even experience shaped by usability, updates, and mobile trading convenience.

Here is a summary of HTX's ratings and reviews:

• Trustpilot: HTX holds a 1.3 out of 5 TrustScore from 80 reviews, with Trustpilot labeling the profile “Bad,” reflecting strongly negative feedback concentrated around support and withdrawal-related complaints.
• Apple App Store: On Apple’s App Store, HTX shows a 3.7 out of 5 rating from roughly 1.4K ratings, indicating a more moderate mobile-user response than third-party review platforms.
• Google Play: On Google Play, HTX carries a 3.7-star rating with about 42K reviews, suggesting broad Android adoption but still a middling satisfaction profile rather than standout user approval.

The overall takeaway is that HTX’s mobile apps score materially better than its Trustpilot profile, so user experience appears acceptable for some traders, while support and trust concerns remain a recurring theme.

Is HTX Safe?

HTX is safest to use when you enable every account safeguard, verify official communications, and treat it as a feature-rich exchange with layered defenses, reserve disclosures, and ongoing anti-fraud monitoring.

Its main security elements are passkeys and 2FA for access control, withdrawal-address whitelisting, monthly proof-of-reserves reporting above 100%, and visible anti-phishing, blacklist, and incident-response programs.

Account Safety Measures

HTX provides several account-level protections that help reduce takeover and phishing risks, especially when users combine strong credentials, login verification, withdrawal controls, and routine authenticity checks.
Key account protections users can enable:

• Passkeys: HTX supports passkeys in its app, giving users a modern login method tied to device-based authentication rather than relying only on passwords and one-time codes.
• Two-Factor: HTX advises users to activate Google-authenticator-based 2FA, adding a second login layer that makes account compromise materially harder even if primary credentials are exposed.
• Strong Passwords: The platform recommends unique, complex passwords with mixed character types, reinforcing basic account hygiene as a first defense against credential stuffing and opportunistic takeover attempts.
• Address Whitelist: Withdrawal address whitelisting lets users restrict outbound transfers to pre-approved wallets only, limiting damage even if someone gains unauthorized access to the account.
• Anti-Phishing: HTX provides anti-phishing guidance and personalized email-code verification features so users can better distinguish official messages from spoofed emails, fake sites, and staff-impersonation scams.
• Media Verifier: Its security management guide also highlights a Media Verifier tool, which helps users confirm whether public-facing information and communications are genuinely linked to HTX.

Asset Protection

HTX also emphasizes platform-side asset safeguards, combining reserve transparency, storage controls, risk screening, and active interdiction of suspicious flows to strengthen protection beyond personal account settings.
Main safeguards around stored client assets:

• Proof of Reserves: HTX says it maintains user assets at a minimum 1:1 ratio and publishes regular proof-of-reserves reports so users can independently review reserve coverage.
• Merkle Proofs: Through its Merkle Tree PoR system, users can verify inclusion of their balances in reserve data, adding a technical transparency layer beyond simple wallet-balance claims.
• Monthly Disclosures: HTX reported 40 consecutive months of Merkle Tree PoR disclosures by early 2026, with reserve ratios for major assets remaining above 100% throughout those updates.
• Cold Storage: HTX states that 98% of digital assets are stored in multi-signature cold wallets, reducing hot-wallet exposure and improving resilience against online compromise attempts.
• Risk Blacklists: The exchange regularly blacklists suspicious addresses and intercepts deposits or withdrawals linked to risky funds, showing an active compliance and transaction-monitoring layer.
• Fraud Intercepts: In 2025 reports, HTX said it blocked scam-linked withdrawals, froze compromised funds, and sent millions of user alerts, suggesting broad operational investment in asset defense.

Security History

HTX’s safety record is not spotless, so users should weigh its disclosed protections against the reality that the exchange has faced incidents and continues publishing recurring security reports.
Important context from HTX’s security track record:

• Past Incident: HTX has acknowledged a hack in its own content ecosystem, which is a reminder that even major exchanges with layered controls can still face real-world breaches.
• Response Efforts: Official 2024 and 2025 security reports emphasize phishing-site takedowns, blacklist growth, scam-withdrawal interception, and freezing compromised funds as part of its post-incident security posture.
• Transparency Focus: HTX has leaned heavily on monthly PoR updates and transparency messaging, using reserve disclosures as a trust-building measure after broader industry confidence shocks.
• User Responsibility: HTX’s own materials repeatedly stress that user behavior matters, especially around phishing awareness, official-channel verification, whitelists, and safe handling of credentials and devices.

Is HTX Regulated?

HTX is partly regulated rather than comprehensively licensed worldwide, with official disclosures showing a small number of current registrations plus several pending approvals and market-specific compliance efforts.

Officially disclosed current registrations and approvals include:

• Pakistan: HTX says it obtained a No Objection Certificate from the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulation Authority, allowing it to begin the formal licensing process under Pakistan’s 2025 virtual assets framework.
• South America: HTX’s Global Licensed Businesses page also lists South America under “Payment and remittance services,” though the public page snippet does not specify a country, entity, or regulator.

Beyond those live entries, HTX’s own 2026 compliance update says Dubai is still in the application stage for a VARA VASP license, Bahrain applications have approval in principle, and Australia operations began with compliant fiat and custody services while upgrades continue.

HTX’s 2025 outlook also said it was researching MiCA licensing in Europe rather than already holding a MiCA authorization, which suggests Europe remained more of a compliance target than a completed licensing base.

On the negative side, past regulatory history is mixed. Malaysia’s Securities Commission ordered Huobi Global to stop operating in 2023 for running an unregistered digital asset exchange, and the UK FCA has warned against HTX since October 2023 and escalated to legal action in February 2026.

HTX Fee Schedule

We analyzed HTX’s costs by reviewing its official fee pages, support articles, and product guides, then separating standard trading charges from conditional discounts, network-based withdrawals, and zero-fee P2P activity.

The quick overview is straightforward: spot trading starts at 0.1%, perpetual and futures fees are lower, deposits are generally free aside from network considerations, and P2P trading is advertised at 0% commission.

Spot Fees

• Standard Rate: HTX’s official fee page and support materials indicate standard spot maker and taker fees start at 0.1%, with lower rates available through tier upgrades.
• HTX Discount: HTX says users who enable HT deduction can receive a 25% discount on spot fees, reducing example 0.1% maker and taker rates to 0.075%.
• TRX Discount: HTX also advertises a TRX fee-deduction option for spot trading, again lowering an example 0.1% maker and taker rate when the setting is enabled.
• Tiered Pricing: Spot costs are tiered rather than fixed for every user, with higher-volume or higher-balance traders qualifying for lower rates than the platform’s baseline level.

Perpetual and Futures Fees

• USDT-M Futures: HTX’s official futures fee article shows USDT-margined contracts charging 0.02% maker and 0.06% taker fees for both opening and closing positions.
• Coin-M Futures: A separate HTX futures commission page shows coin-margined contracts with 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker commission, highlighting slightly lower taker costs than USDT-margined products.
• Futures Discount: HTX says enabling HT deduction can cut futures costs further, with support materials describing extra fee savings beyond the exchange’s normal tier-based derivatives schedule.
• VIP Sharing: HTX also promotes VIP-sharing and market-maker programs, meaning professional or high-volume derivatives traders may receive preferential rates beyond standard retail futures fees.

Deposits, Withdrawals & P2P

• Deposits: HTX’s own review-style support content says there should be no fees besides the network fee when making a crypto deposit to the exchange.
• Withdrawals: HTX states withdrawal fees are not flat, but calculated by asset and blockchain conditions, with the platform also reserving discretion to charge network or miner fees.
• Network Variance: Because some assets support multiple chains, withdrawal costs can differ by selected network, and HTX occasionally runs temporary zero-fee promotions on specific routes such as SOL-based USDT.
• Internal Transfers: HTX has promoted some internal or designated-address withdrawal routes with zero fees and faster arrival, though those benefits depend on the specific transfer method used.
• P2P Trading: HTX repeatedly markets P2P buying, selling, and ad creation as 0% commission or zero-fee activity, making it the clearest low-cost fiat access channel on the platform.

A practical tip is to check the exact asset, network, and fee-deduction setting before trading or withdrawing, because HTX’s headline rates can drop with discounts while transfer costs vary by chain.

Final Thoughts

HTX is a great option for traders who want broad market access, active derivatives, copy trading, and yield products in one place, especially if they value product depth over a polished reputation.

When you register, complete KYC, enable passkeys or 2FA, set a withdrawal whitelist, and compare spot, convert, and P2P routes before funding or placing your first trade.

Things to watch for include uneven public reviews, changing withdrawal network costs, limited clearly disclosed licensing coverage, and a mixed regulatory history that deserves careful country-by-country checking.