HTX Review 2027Core Trading Conditions and Fees

HTX review 2027: Huobi's second act

HTX is the current name of Huobi, an exchange founded in 2013 by Leon Li that was for years one of the three dominant platforms in Asia. China's 2021 ban on crypto trading cut it off from its home market, and in 2022 the founder sold his controlling stake to an investment vehicle. Tron founder Justin Sun joined as an adviser and has been the public face of the exchange since. In September 2023, on its tenth anniversary, the platform rebranded as HTX. It remains a high-volume venue in 2027, though its position and reputation are different from its peak.

Products

HTX lists more than 700 tokens on spot, with a clear tilt toward assets from the Tron ecosystem and toward newly launched and meme coins. Derivatives include USDT-margined and coin-margined perpetuals and futures. The platform offers margin trading, trading bots, copy trading, a peer-to-peer fiat desk and an Earn section whose promotional yields on stablecoins have at times been well above market rates. Unusually high yields deserve scrutiny anywhere: always ask where the return comes from.

Fees

The standard spot fee is 0.20% for makers and takers, twice the base rate at many competitors. Holding the platform token or reaching Prime tiers through volume lowers the cost, and futures fees start at 0.02% and 0.06%. Occasional zero-fee promotions run on selected pairs. Casual traders who do not qualify for discounts will find HTX among the more expensive large exchanges for spot.

HTX DAO and the token change

The original Huobi Token, HT, has been replaced by HTX, the token of HTX DAO, issued on Tron. The DAO is presented as a community governance layer, and a share of platform revenue is used to buy back and burn tokens each quarter. In practice the exchange is still run as a company. The token offers fee discounts and access to promotional events, and it carries the usual risk of an asset whose value depends on one business.

Security incidents in 2023

The months after the rebrand were difficult. In September 2023 a hot wallet was drained of roughly $8 million in ether. In November 2023 a much larger attack hit the exchange and the related HECO bridge together, with combined losses of well over $100 million. Poloniex, another exchange associated with Justin Sun, was hacked in the same month. HTX stated that all customer losses were covered and resumed deposits and withdrawals after a pause. Customers were made whole, but three serious breaches in a short span raised reasonable questions about operational security.

Reserves

HTX publishes monthly Merkle-tree proof of reserves, reporting ratios at or above 100% for its main assets. Analysts have pointed out that the composition of those reserves leans heavily on Tron-related tokens and staked assets linked to Sun's other ventures, which makes them less independent than a reserve held purely in bitcoin, ether and widely used stablecoins. The reports are a useful disclosure, and the concentration is a factor worth weighing.

Regulatory status

The exchange is registered in Seychelles. It has held registrations in a handful of jurisdictions and has withdrawn or been refused in others; it gave up an application in Hong Kong and has been named in warnings by regulators including the UK's Financial Conduct Authority over unapproved promotions. It does not serve the United States, mainland China, Canada, Japan or Singapore, among others. Overall, licensing is thin relative to the exchange's size.

Pros and cons

• Longevity: more than a decade of continuous operation.
• Liquidity: solid volume on major pairs and Tron-ecosystem assets.
• Compensation record: customer losses from the 2023 hacks were reimbursed.
• Fees: a 0.20% base spot rate is high.
• Security history: several breaches within a few months.
• Concentration: reserves and governance closely tied to one individual's ecosystem.

Who might use HTX?

HTX appeals mainly to traders active in Tron-based tokens and to existing users from the Huobi era who know the platform well. Others will usually find lower fees, stronger licensing and cleaner security records at competing exchanges.

Our assessment

HTX is still a large exchange with real liquidity, and it has honoured its obligations to customers after each incident. Even so, for 2027 its combination of higher fees, limited regulation and concentrated reserves places it behind the leaders. If you trade here, keep balances small and do not let promotional yields override caution.

HTX review: compare the alternatives

This HTX review is part of our Top 45 Cryptocurrency Exchanges in 2027 ranking. To compare, read the Crypto.com Exchange review and the MEXC review.