Huobi Is Now HTX: Sanctions, Status and History

Huobi is now called HTX, and in 2026 it became the first crypto exchange to be named directly in UK sanctions. On 26 May 2026 the UK designated its operator, Huobi Global S.A., under its Russia sanctions regime, and on 23 July 2026 the EU added the same company to its 21st Russia sanctions package, with a ban on transactions by EU persons from 23 August 2026. For readers in the UK or the EU, that settles the practical question: you should not open an account or trade there.

This page explains how Huobi became HTX, what the sanctions mean for people who still hold funds on it, its hacks and earlier regulatory history, and why we no longer treat it as a usable exchange for most of our readers. Sources are government notices, HTX’s own announcements and the public record. There are no live prices or trading tips here.

HTX status in brief

From Huobi to HTX: a short history

Leon Li, a former Oracle engineer, founded Huobi in Beijing in 2013, and its trading platform went live on 1 September 2013. Within a few years it was among the largest bitcoin exchanges in the world, much of its volume coming from Chinese users trading against the yuan.

Chinese policy then pushed it offshore in two steps. In September 2017 China banned initial coin offerings and ordered domestic exchanges to stop yuan trading, and Huobi closed its local platform while expanding through offices in Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo. In September 2021 a broader Chinese crackdown on crypto trading led Huobi to stop serving mainland China customers altogether. In between, in August 2018, a Huobi group company gained a Hong Kong stock market listing through a reverse takeover.

Ownership changed in October 2022, when Leon Li sold his controlling stake to About Capital, a Hong Kong investment firm. Bloomberg reported that Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron blockchain, was behind the purchase; Sun has publicly called himself an adviser to the exchange. In September 2023, on Huobi’s tenth anniversary, the exchange was renamed HTX.

Some former Huobi businesses went their own way. Regional platforms carrying the Huobi name in markets such as Japan were sold or rebranded and are not the same company as HTX. If you see an old Huobi-branded service, check who runs it today before trusting the name.

The 2026 sanctions explained

United Kingdom: 26 May 2026

The UK government designated Huobi Global S.A. under the Russia sanctions regulations as one of a group of crypto exchanges, payment providers and individuals linked to Russia’s use of digital assets to get around sanctions. Public summaries of the designation point to services provided to A7, a Kremlin-backed cross-border payments network, and to Garantex, a Moscow-based exchange under US sanctions since April 2022.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) then updated its financial sanctions FAQs on 2 June 2026 to state that it considers the HTX cryptocurrency exchange itself subject to UK financial sanctions because of its ownership by Huobi. In plain terms, UK persons and UK companies must not deal with funds or economic resources owned or controlled by it, or make funds available to it, unless OFSI has granted a licence.

European Union: 23 July 2026

The Council of the European Union adopted its 21st package of Russia sanctions on 23 July 2026. It placed Huobi Global SA, trading as HTX, among third-country entities found to be significantly frustrating EU sanctions, together with other crypto platforms based in Georgia, Panama, the UAE, the Marshall Islands, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus. The listing triggers a prohibition on direct or indirect transactions with HTX for EU persons and entities, effective from 23 August 2026. Unlike the UK measure, it is not an asset freeze.

What this means if you hold funds on HTX

Your options depend on where you are and your nationality, and the stakes are legal, not just commercial. We are not lawyers, so treat the following as orientation, not advice.

• UK residents and UK nationals: do not try to work around the designation with transfers through other platforms. Read OFSI’s guidance and, if you have significant funds there, take legal advice on whether a licence route exists.
• EU residents and EU companies: the transaction ban applies from 23 August 2026. Withdrawals and transfers involving HTX after that date are covered by the ban; check with your national competent authority or a sanctions lawyer before acting.
• Everyone else: other exchanges and payment firms that screen against UK and EU lists may block or freeze deposits traced back to HTX. Expect questions, delays and possibly rejected transfers.

The general lesson applies beyond HTX. A balance on an exchange is a claim against the company; when the company is sanctioned, that claim can become very hard to use. Coins in a wallet whose keys you hold do not depend on an exchange’s legal status, which is one reason our wallets guide recommends keeping long-term holdings there.

Why a sanctions listing is worse than a missing licence

Plenty of exchanges operate without a licence in some countries. That is a risk for users, because there is no local regulator to supervise the firm or hear a complaint, but using such a platform is usually not itself unlawful for the customer. A sanctions designation works differently: it places obligations on the people and businesses in the sanctioning country, including ordinary customers.

Breaching UK financial sanctions can be a criminal offence, and OFSI can also impose civil penalties. That is why the safest course for anyone in the UK or the EU is to stop using HTX and seek advice about any remaining balance rather than improvising.

How the sanctions can reach users elsewhere

Readers outside the UK and the EU are not bound by those rules, but they still meet them in practice. Large exchanges, banks and payment firms with UK or EU operations screen incoming crypto with blockchain analytics tools that trace where coins have been. A deposit that comes straight from an HTX withdrawal address is easy to spot.

The likely results range from a request to explain the source of funds to a frozen deposit or a closed account. Under the EU travel rule (Regulation (EU) 2023/1113), providers must also collect information about the sender and recipient of crypto transfers, which makes the origin of a transfer from another exchange visible. None of this depends on whether you did anything wrong; it depends on where the coins came from.

If you have received crypto that you later learn came from HTX, keep the transaction records, be open with any exchange that asks, and do not try to “clean” the funds through mixers or chains of transfers. Such steps look like deliberate evasion and make matters worse.

Hacks and security incidents

HTX suffered two hot-wallet attacks within two months in 2023. In September 2023 an attacker took about $8 million in ether from an HTX hot wallet. On 22 November 2023 a larger attack hit both HTX and the HECO Chain bridge connected to it: HTX’s own notice said about $30 million of assets in its hot wallet were affected, and at least $86.6 million was moved from the HECO bridge.

HTX said it would cover user losses from the exchange incidents. Even so, two breaches in quick succession suggested weak key management at the time. Bridges between blockchains have been a frequent target across the industry, and the HECO attack is one of several large bridge losses since 2022.

Thirteen years in one timeline

Read top to bottom, the timeline shows an exchange that moved jurisdiction each time pressure rose, rather than building licensed entities where its users lived. That pattern is the background to the sanctions. Compare it with exchanges that obtained licences country by country: their users have a regulator to turn to when something goes wrong, while HTX’s users now face legal barriers instead.

Regulatory history before 2026

The sanctions are the most serious step, but HTX’s relationship with regulators was difficult well before them.

• China: forced out of domestic trading in 2017 and out of serving mainland users in 2021, as described above.
• European Union: MiCA’s transition periods ended by 1 July 2026, and HTX does not appear on ESMA’s register of authorised crypto-asset service providers. Without that authorisation it cannot lawfully offer crypto services to EU clients, a point that the July sanctions have since overtaken.
• United States: HTX does not serve US residents. In March 2023 the SEC sued Justin Sun and Tron-related companies in a case about Tron tokens; HTX was not a defendant, but the suit concerned the person widely reported as its controlling figure.
• Elsewhere: several national regulators have published investor warnings about HTX or Huobi entities operating without local registration. Search your own regulator’s warning list before using any offshore exchange.

Fees and products, for context

We do not recommend HTX, so we have not built a fee comparison for it. For readers outside the sanctioning jurisdictions who already use it, the platform offers spot trading in several hundred tokens, futures and margin products, savings and staking products, and its own token tied to the HTX DAO. Fees are published on HTX’s fee page and depend on VIP level and on whether you pay with the exchange’s token.

Cheap fees cannot offset the risks above. A 0.1% saving per trade is irrelevant if transfers to and from the exchange are blocked by your bank or by another exchange’s sanctions screening.

Signs an exchange carries this kind of risk

HTX’s path shows warning signs that apply to any exchange, and they are worth checking before you deposit anywhere:

1. No licence where you live. In the EU, a firm absent from ESMA’s register should not be serving you after 1 July 2026.
2. Opaque ownership. If the people who control the firm are known only from press reports, accountability is limited.
3. Repeated security incidents within a short period.
4. Links to sanctioned counterparties such as Garantex, reported by blockchain analytics firms or named in government notices.
5. Offshore incorporation with no local entity to complain to.

None of these alone proves an exchange is unsafe. Several together, as with HTX, are a strong reason to look elsewhere.

Moving away from HTX

If you are outside the UK and the EU and decide to leave, do it methodically. Withdraw to a wallet you control rather than straight to another exchange, so the receiving platform does not reject a deposit from a sanctioned source while your funds sit in limbo. Check the network and any memo for each coin, send a small test first, and keep records of every transaction ID. If you are a UK or EU person, the sanctions rules above come first: get advice before moving anything.

When you choose a replacement, start with the licensing question. Kraken holds a MiCA licence via Ireland and registrations in the UK, Canada and Australia. Coinbase Advanced is run by a US-listed company with a Luxembourg MiCA licence. Binance offers low fees but has no MiCA licence, and KuCoin is another offshore venue whose EU arm was still barred from starting operations at the Austrian regulator’s May 2026 notice. Our exchange comparison puts them side by side, and the coin directory explains how to check what you hold.

Huobi and HTX: frequently asked

Is Huobi the same as HTX?

Yes. Huobi Global renamed itself HTX in September 2023. Its operating company, named in the 2026 sanctions notices, is Huobi Global S.A. of Panama.

Why was HTX sanctioned?

The UK designated Huobi Global S.A. on 26 May 2026 under its Russia sanctions regulations, in a package targeting crypto firms that helped Russia bypass sanctions; public summaries cite services to the A7 network and the Garantex exchange. The EU listed it in its 21st Russia package on 23 July 2026.

Can I still use HTX in the UK or the EU?

You should not. OFSI considers the HTX exchange subject to UK financial sanctions, and EU persons are banned from transactions with it from 23 August 2026. If you hold funds there, read the official guidance and take legal advice before moving anything.

Does HTX have a MiCA licence?

No. HTX is not on ESMA’s register of authorised crypto-asset service providers, so it cannot lawfully offer crypto services to EU clients after the MiCA transition ended on 1 July 2026.

Has HTX been hacked?

Yes, twice in 2023: about $8 million in September, then on 22 November about $30 million from an HTX hot wallet and at least $86.6 million from the HECO Chain bridge. HTX said it would cover user losses from the exchange incidents.

Who owns HTX?

Founder Leon Li sold his controlling stake to About Capital in October 2022. Bloomberg reported that Tron founder Justin Sun was behind the deal; Sun describes himself as an adviser to the exchange.

What should I do if I received crypto that came from HTX?

Keep the transaction records and be open with any exchange or bank that asks about the funds. Do not try to disguise their origin through mixers or chains of transfers, and if you are in the UK or the EU, take advice on the sanctions rules first.