HTX Exchange: Review

Introduction

In a period where many cryptocurrency exchanges saw stagnation or decline, HTX achieved phenomenal growth throughout 2024 and 2025. While its competitors struggled with leveling trading activity, HTX expanded its spot volume, added hundreds of new tokens, and saw net deposits jump by an incredible 210% in Q1 2025 alone.

This level of growth is not accidental; it reflects a deliberate focus on product innovation, flawless execution, and building user trust. This review analyzes the key factors behind HTX's success, from its outstanding performance in 2024-2025 to its product suite, security measures, and areas for improvement.

Key Takeaways

• HTX is a comprehensive global crypto exchange offering spot trading, futures, staking, and other services for users of all levels.

• With over 12 years of operation, HTX has evolved from its origins as Huobi into a rapidly expanding international platform.

• The exchange provides access to over 900 trading pairs and features innovative products like SmartEarn, Launchpool, zero-cost futures, and DAO governance tools.

• HTX employs a multi-layered security framework, including cold storage, stringent withdrawal controls, and real-time monitoring to safeguard user assets.

What is HTX Exchange?

As one of the industry's longest-standing cryptocurrency exchanges, HTX has a rich history. It was originally founded as Huobi in 2013 and rebranded to HTX in 2023. The new identity signifies a strategic pivot toward two main goals: expanding the platform's global footprint and diversifying its product offerings to support this worldwide expansion.

Today, HTX supports over 1,000 cryptocurrencies, serves users in more than 180 countries, and processes billions of dollars in daily trading volume. With a robust ecosystem featuring spot and futures trading, staking, and crypto-backed loans, HTX has positioned itself as an all-in-one platform for both novice and expert traders.

HTX’s Climb in Global Crypto Exchange Rankings

HTX's ascent in global rankings has been particularly noticeable since its 2023 rebrand, driven by consistent improvements in security, liquidity, technology, and user confidence.

On CoinGecko’s influential exchange leaderboard, HTX surged from 13th to 7th place, a move reflecting enhanced trading depth, security protocols, and transparency. Similarly, it climbed from 15th to 9th on CoinMarketCap’s exchange rankings. This upward trend is mirrored by other data aggregators: HTX currently holds 6th place on DeFiLlama and an impressive 3rd on CryptoRank.

In a June 2025 report by Kaiko, which evaluates exchanges across six dimensions, HTX was ranked #8 globally—an increase of two spots from Q1—and earned a prestigious "AA" rating. The report commended HTX as a standout performer in the Business and Technology categories while acknowledging its top-tier scores in Security.

Which Standout Products Does HTX Offer?

HTX provides a suite of flagship products designed to help users earn and trade more effectively, including Launchpool 2.0, SmartEarn, and TRX American Options. The exchange's product strategy is clearly focused on enabling users to grow their crypto holdings easily and securely.

Meanwhile, SmartEarn allows users to earn passive income on $BTC, $ETH, and $USDT balances in their USDT-M futures accounts without any lock-up period, generating yield whether they have open positions or not.

In June 2025, HTX expanded its derivatives lineup by launching TRX American Options. These options offer flexible expiries from 3 days to 6 months, low entry barriers, and early exercise support, giving traders more sophisticated tools to hedge risk and capitalize on market opportunities.

These user-centric features, combined with Trade-to-Earn rebates, Borrow & Earn, and gamified events, have been instrumental in attracting new users at scale.

How Does HTX Approach New Coin Listings?

HTX has built a reputation for its rapid, first-to-market listings of promising new assets, a strategy that has often generated substantial returns for early investors.

In 2024 alone, HTX listed 218 new cryptocurrencies, with 171 of them launching on HTX before any other major exchange. The platform’s asset team excels at identifying emerging trends—such as AI, DeFi, or meme coins—and swiftly onboarding high-quality projects. This approach has led to some spectacular token performances. For example, $WIF, a Solana-based token listed in early 2024, surged to 121 times its initial value post-listing. The meme coin $NEIROCTO jumped 137x after HTX became its first primary exchange supporter. During the late 2024 rally, community-driven coins like $GOAT and $ACT delivered returns of 705% and 12,079%, respectively, after their debut on HTX.

This "discover the next gem" strategy continued into 2025. In Q1, HTX quickly listed trending tokens like $AVAAI (+256%), the new $LUNA (+312%), and the novelty $TRUMP token (which saw a 9x increase). The exchange's agility was further demonstrated in April 2025 when it listed 14 new tokens in a single month across hot sectors like staking infrastructure and on-chain finance. Notable standouts included:

• $STO: A staking protocol token that surged +303% after listing.

• $DARK: A Metaverse (MCP) narrative token, which rose +246%.

• $HOUSE: A Solana meme coin that jumped +176%.

Reinforcing its image as a first-mover, HTX was also the first exchange globally to list the World Liberty Financial USD stablecoin ($USD1) in May 2025.

How Reliable and Efficient is Trading on HTX?

HTX is increasingly focused on delivering a seamless trading experience powered by deep liquidity, high-performance systems, and a robust API for advanced traders.

The platform consistently ranks among the top exchanges for its technical infrastructure and uptime, maintaining excellent operational stability with no major outages reported in recent years. Its trading engine has a proven track record of handling heavy transactional loads without noticeable lag. For high-frequency traders and institutional clients, HTX provides ultra-low latency execution and stable API access—key features that have contributed to its top-tier Technology scores in industry reports.

Liquidity is another area where HTX excels, regularly appearing in the top tier for both trading volume and order book depth across major pairs. In a mid-2024 benchmark study, HTX recorded the fourth-highest liquidity among 43 tracked exchanges, with average daily volumes approaching $60 billion. This depth ensures tight bid-ask spreads and minimal slippage, even for large-volume trades. The exchange supports over 900 trading pairs and offers advanced features like multi-asset margin, which allows users to utilize different cryptocurrencies as collateral, alongside a wide range of complex order types.

How Does HTX Ensure Security of User Funds?

HTX's security record has not been flawless. Its hot wallets were compromised in late 2023, resulting in a loss of approximately $8 million. Another breach attempt in early 2024 led to temporary wallet suspensions but was quickly contained with no user losses.

Since these incidents, the platform has significantly reinforced its security posture by expanding its cold wallet coverage, launching real-time threat monitoring systems, and tightening withdrawal controls to better protect user funds and infrastructure.

HTX operates on a multi-layered security architecture. The vast majority of user assets are held in multi-signature cold wallets, with only a small fraction kept in hot wallets to facilitate liquidity. In 2024, HTX began publishing monthly Security Reports to enhance transparency. These reports detail proactive measures, such as the takedown of 130 phishing domains in 2024 and the interception of over $1.37 million in fraudulent withdrawals.

In 2025, HTX continued its aggressive security enhancements by rolling out new safeguards, including:

• Multi-device login verification and unusual withdrawal alerts to add extra hurdles for attackers.

• Integration with Fireblocks Off-Exchange custody, enabling institutional clients to secure funds until execution.

• Ongoing white-hat penetration testing and partnerships for 24/7 monitoring.

For everyday users, HTX provides standard security features like two-factor authentication (2FA), withdrawal address whitelisting, anti-phishing codes, and detailed device management. The exchange also maintains an insurance fund for futures losses and a Safeguard Fund for extreme scenarios, though prevention has so far proven effective.

How Transparent is HTX About Its Reserves?

HTX aims to set the industry benchmark for transparency by publicly disclosing its asset reserves monthly and maintaining full collateralization.

Unlike some exchanges that only publish occasional audits, HTX has shared Proof-of-Reserves (PoR) data for over 30 consecutive months as of mid-2025. Each month, it releases a Merkle Tree-backed reserve report, allowing users to verify that their account balances are included and fully backed by on-chain assets. These reports consistently show reserve ratios exceeding 100% for all major assets, confirming that HTX holds more crypto in custody than required to cover customer balances.

HTX’s July 2025 PoR report confirmed four consecutive months of $USDT reserve growth, with holdings reaching 1.82 billion $USDT—a figure that consistently exceeds user balances and reflects accelerating capital inflows. The exchange’s commitment to transparency extends beyond numbers; it voluntarily undergoes third-party audits and has made its wallet addresses public for community monitoring. For users, these disclosures provide verifiable proof that their assets are secure.

What Role Do HTX’s DAO and Token Play?

HTX DAO, an ecosystem partner of the HTX exchange, is a decentralized autonomous organization where holders of its governance token, $HTX, can vote on key decisions like new token listings, staking rewards, and ecosystem development proposals.

Over the past year, the community cast more than 350,000 votes on various initiatives. This has led to tangible outcomes; for instance, the DAO proposed and HTX implemented a "One Asset, Multiple Rewards" staking model, which allows users to stake a single token and earn multiple types of rewards concurrently.

In July 2025, HTX DAO launched a Listing Governance Mechanism, granting the community its first-ever right to propose token listings. This represents a significant step toward decentralized governance and aligns with HTX's long-term vision of "achieving financial freedom for the 8 billion people on Earth." Community members can nominate projects on the HTX DAO Forum, and shortlisted tokens are voted on by $HTX holders. Winning projects are then submitted to the exchange for a final listing review.

The $HTX token also provides typical exchange token benefits, such as trading fee discounts, VIP level upgrades, access to exclusive events, and a share in fee rebates. In Q1 2025, the HTX DAO introduced a holding-based voting tool to make governance more accessible. Furthermore, the DAO has been actively reducing the token supply; in Q1 2025, it oversaw the burn of 11.3 trillion $HTX, reinforcing a deflationary token model.

Conclusion

HTX has made remarkable strides on all fronts, establishing itself as a formidable player in the crypto market by 2025. It combines a user-friendly interface with a vast selection of trading pairs and advanced features suitable for both beginners and experienced traders. With its proven growth, commitment to security and transparency, and innovative product offerings, HTX stands out as a compelling option for anyone new to crypto or considering a switch from their current exchange. Interested in other exchanges? Check our recent LBank Exchange review.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is HTX, and how is it different from Huobi?

HTX is the new brand identity of Huobi, launched in 2023 to celebrate its tenth anniversary and signal its global expansion. The name "HTX" represents Huobi, its strategic partner TRON, and the Roman numeral X for ten. While Huobi was historically dominant in Asia, HTX is focused on a broader international audience with new features, a decentralized governance model, and refreshed branding.

Is HTX safe for storing and trading crypto?

HTX employs a multi-layered security system featuring cold wallet storage, withdrawal whitelists, and two-factor authentication (2FA). The exchange has had no major breaches for over 20 months and publishes monthly security reports to maintain transparency. With advanced safeguards like unusual activity alerts and Fireblocks custody integration, HTX has taken decisive steps to protect user funds, though no exchange can be considered entirely risk-free.

What fees does HTX charge for trading?

HTX applies a base spot trading fee of 0.2%, which can be reduced by holding $HTX tokens or using them to pay for fees. Futures trading fees are generally lower and vary based on market activity and a user's VIP tier. The exchange also frequently runs promotional campaigns like Trade-to-Earn that offer fee rebates. A detailed fee schedule is available in the trading dashboard and the platform's official fees center.

Can I use fiat currency on HTX?

HTX supports fiat onramps primarily through peer-to-peer (P2P) trading and third-party credit/debit card processors. It does not offer direct fiat integration with local bank accounts in most regions, which may be less convenient for users who rely heavily on traditional banking services.

What earning options are available on HTX?

HTX offers several features for generating yield, including SmartEarn, Launchpool, and flexible staking. SmartEarn pays interest on idle $BTC, $ETH, and $USDT funds in USDT-M futures accounts without requiring a lock-up. Launchpool allows users to stake $HTX to receive airdrops of new project tokens. Other programs include Borrow & Earn and event-based rewards tied to trading volume and other activities.