HTX Review: Fees, Security and the Huobi Legacy, Tested Hands-On

HTX is a major centralized crypto exchange, founded in 2013 as Huobi. It rebranded to HTX in 2023, following a 2022 change of control that media reports have linked to Justin Sun. It serves over 55 million users across 160+ countries, with 700+ coins, futures leverage up to 200x, and one of the longest Proof of Reserves track records in the industry. I ran registration, KYC, deposits, trading, and withdrawals end to end before writing this review.

Our verdict: 6.0/10 — the cheapest BTC withdrawals in crypto, on an exchange with no tier-1 license anywhere and the whole EU closed.

Fees

This is HTX's biggest weakness. Base spot fees are 0.20% maker / 0.20% taker, double the standard: Binance, OKX, Bybit, KuCoin, and Bitget all charge 0.10%. On a $1,000 trade, that's $2 versus $1 at competitors. Holding the native HTX token gives a 25% discount, bringing the effective rate to 0.15%. A referral code at signup adds another 20%, and it stacks with the token discount: 0.20% → 0.15% (with HTX) → about 0.12% (with the code). That gets close to the 0.10% standard at competitors, though it still doesn't make HTX the cheapest on spot.

Futures fees are 0.02% maker / 0.06% taker (USDT-M). How that compares:

Where HTX wins is withdrawals. The native BTC withdrawal fee of ~0.000016 BTC is the lowest among top exchanges, roughly 12x cheaper than Binance. ETH on ERC-20 runs ~0.0021 ETH, USDT on TRC-20 is 1 USDT, and on BEP-20 around 0.3-0.5 USDT. For frequent withdrawers, this partly offsets the expensive spot fees.

Security

HTX's recent security history is a more honest guide than its feature list. 2023 was a rough year, with two significant incidents.

September 2023: 4,999 ETH (~$7.9M) was drained from a hot wallet through a compromised private key. The full amount was recovered on October 7, 2023 after a 5% white-hat bounty was offered; no users lost funds.

November 2023: the HECO bridge was exploited for ~$86.6M, with another ~$12M drained from hot wallets in the same window. The attack is attributed to North Korea's Lazarus Group; the funds were laundered through Tornado Cash and never recovered. Justin Sun pledged compensation from company reserves. In the weeks after the hack, net outflows hit ~$258M, a serious blow to trust.

For EU readers the situation is simple. HTX never applied for a MiCA license and now lists every EU member state among its restricted jurisdictions, with all services closed — not just derivatives. Existing balances aren't frozen, but new business is off, and anyone still holding funds there should plan the exit rather than wait.

What HTX does well

• Monthly Merkle-tree Proof of Reserves since late 2022, over 40 consecutive reports and one of the longest records in the industry (reserves around $5B, verifiable via an individual hash).
• $250M BitGo custodial insurance.
• A 20,000 BTC Security Reserve Fund.
• 90-98% of funds in cold storage with multi-signature.
• A CER.live AA rating (86/100) and CertiK Skynet 84.40. In 2025, HTX also made Forbes' list of the most trustworthy exchanges.

There has been no publicly reported exchange-wallet breach since November 2023. But the 2023 events and limited regulatory oversight make HTX a higher-risk place to store significant funds than Binance, OKX, or Bybit.

Justin Sun, governance, and sanctions

Officially, Sun is HTX's "Global Advisor." In practice, Bloomberg and documents disclosed during legal proceedings identify him as the de facto owner following the late-2022 change of control at Huobi; Forbes estimated his net worth at around $8.5B as of May 2026. Sun's history includes an SEC case filed in March 2023 over alleged unregistered TRX/BTT offerings and wash trading. The case was paused in early 2025 while the parties explored a resolution, and Reuters reported a $10M settlement in March 2026.

Regulatory pressure tightened in 2025-2026:

• The FCA filed a High Court claim in October 2025 over alleged illegal financial promotions to UK consumers, its first such action against a crypto company. The case is now in settlement talks under a court stay.
• March 2026: the SEC moved to dismiss all claims against Sun, the Tron Foundation, and the BitTorrent Foundation. Rainberry Inc. paid a $10 million civil penalty with no admission of wrongdoing, closing the case that had been open since 2023.

One practical note for users: HTX has a thinner compliance footprint than the tier-1 licensed exchanges, and funds arriving from it can draw extra review at platforms with strict onboarding. That usually means a source-of-funds request, not a block, but it's worth factoring in if your main account sits at a regulated venue.

Verification and deposits

Registration and verification take about 10 minutes. Limited trading is available without KYC (withdrawals capped at 0.06 BTC/day), but most use cases require Level 2 (government photo ID), which unlocks up to 200 BTC/day.

• Unverified: email/phone only, 0.06 BTC/day.
• Level 1: name, date of birth, ID number, deposits and withdrawals unlocked.
• Level 2: government photo ID, up to 200 BTC/day.
• Level 3: face scan + proof of address, up to 3,000 BTC/day.

Deposits: crypto, Visa/Mastercard via Alchemy Pay/Banxa/Mercuryo/Simplex (2-4%), bank transfer (SEPA, Faster Payments, SWIFT, PIX for BRL), and P2P (45+ fiat currencies, 90+ methods, 0% platform fee). Internal HTX-to-HTX transfers are free and instant.

Where HTX beats competitors

• Cheapest BTC withdrawals among major exchanges. At ~0.000016 BTC, roughly 12x cheaper than Binance and OKX (0.0002 BTC). Withdrawing 1 BTC monthly costs ~$24/year versus ~$300/year on Binance.
• 700+ coins and fast listings. New tokens often appear on HTX earlier than on tier-1 exchanges.
• A long Proof of Reserves record. Monthly Merkle-tree reports since late 2022, one of the longest unbroken records, verifiable via a unique hash. Real transparency discipline, though without a current independent auditor.
• Zero-fee P2P. 45+ fiat currencies and 90+ payment methods at a 0% platform fee, you only pay the spread. For regions with limited fiat on-ramps, this is among the best infrastructure in crypto.
• Up to 200x futures leverage. Matched only by MEXC and Bybit; most cap at 100-125x. A tool for the experienced, a fast path to liquidation for beginners.

Where HTX falls short

• Spot is double the standard. 0.20% versus 0.10% at every major competitor.
• No tier-1 regulation. No licenses in the US, UK, Singapore, Japan, or Hong Kong; the registrations in Lithuania, the British Virgin Islands, and Australia don't qualify. HTX never applied for MiCA, so the entire EU is closed to all services. The FCA promotions case from October 2025 is still open, now in settlement talks.
• Trustpilot 1.3/5 (80 reviews, 89% one-star). Common complaints: account freezes, withdrawals blocked "for review," scripted first-tier support. For context, large exchanges sit at 1.3-1.8, but HTX is at the low end.
• App ratings of 3.7/5 iOS and 3.4/5 Android, versus 4.4-4.6 for Binance, Bybit, and OKX; it lags a bit during volatile periods.

How HTX compares to alternatives

Bottom line

HTX delivers real value: the cheapest BTC withdrawals among major exchanges, broad altcoin access, a long Proof of Reserves record, and zero-fee P2P, backed by 12+ years of operating history. The drawbacks are just as real: spot fees double the standard, two 2023 hacks (one with ~$100M never recovered), governance questions around Justin Sun, and no tier-1 regulation anywhere. For EU and UK readers HTX is off the table. For everyone else it works as a secondary account — altcoins, high-leverage futures, cheap BTC withdrawals — but it's a weaker primary choice than OKX, Bybit, or Binance.