CoinClear

HTX Token (HT)

3.2/10

Formerly Huobi, now HTX under Justin Sun's shadow — declining volumes, SEC-charged leadership, and abysmal transparency make HT one of the riskiest exchange tokens.

Updated: February 16, 2026AI Model: claude-4-opusVersion 1

Overview

HTX (formerly Huobi Global) is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges, founded in 2013 by Leon Li in China. For years, Huobi was a top-3 global exchange by volume, particularly dominant in Chinese-language markets. The exchange went through a dramatic transformation in 2022 when control was acquired by entities associated with Justin Sun, the controversial founder of TRON, who became a de facto controlling figure despite initially being announced as merely an "advisor."

The Sun era has been marked by significant controversy: the rebrand from Huobi to HTX, declining trading volumes and market share, staff layoffs, multiple security incidents, and growing regulatory concerns. Justin Sun himself faces SEC charges for fraud and market manipulation related to TRON and other tokens, casting a long shadow over HTX's credibility and future.

HT, the exchange's native token, has declined dramatically from its historical highs, reflecting the market's diminished confidence in the platform. What was once a blue-chip exchange token is now one of the most controversial and risk-laden tokens in the category.

Exchange Health

HTX's exchange health has deteriorated significantly since the Justin Sun acquisition:

  • Volume decline: HTX has fallen from top-3 to outside the top-10 in most reliable exchange volume rankings. Independent volume analysis suggests significant organic volume loss.
  • Market share erosion: User migration to Binance, OKX, and Bybit has been substantial, particularly among professional traders.
  • Staff reductions: Multiple rounds of layoffs have reduced the team, raising questions about operational capacity and product development.
  • Security incidents: HTX suffered a $30 million hot wallet hack in September 2023, followed by a $100+ million exploit of HTX-associated HECO Chain bridge in November 2023. The cumulative losses and the proximity of these incidents raise serious operational security concerns.
  • Regulatory retreat: HTX has withdrawn from several markets and lacks meaningful regulatory licensing in major jurisdictions.

The exchange continues to operate and process trades, but the trajectory is clearly negative. User trust has eroded, volumes have declined, and the security incidents demonstrate operational weaknesses. HTX survives on its legacy user base and brand recognition in certain Asian markets, but the competitive position is weakening.

The HECO Chain bridge exploit was particularly damaging — over $100 million was drained, and the connection between HTX, HECO Chain, and Justin Sun's broader network of entities raised questions about asset commingling and governance.

Token Utility

HT provides standard exchange token utilities:

  • Fee discounts: Tiered trading fee reductions for HT holders (up to 65% discount at highest tiers)
  • Launchpad access: Priority participation in HTX Primelist token launches
  • Staking products: HT staking for additional yield within the HTX ecosystem
  • Margin collateral: HT usable as collateral for margin and futures trading
  • Governance participation: HT holders can vote on certain platform decisions and token listings

The utility features are functional and comparable to other exchange tokens. However, utility depends on the exchange's health — fee discounts are only valuable if you're trading on HTX, and launchpad access is only attractive if HTX launches quality projects.

As HTX's market share and prestige have declined, the practical value of these utilities has diminished proportionally. Launchpad projects on HTX generally attract less attention and investment than those on Binance, OKX, or even smaller but growing exchanges like Bitget.

Tokenomics

HT has a maximum supply of 500 million tokens, with regular burns funded by trading fee revenue. Burns are published quarterly with transaction hashes for verification.

Key tokenomics issues:

  • Declining burn volume: As trading volume falls, fee-funded burns decrease proportionally, weakening the deflationary mechanism
  • Justin Sun's holdings: The extent of Justin Sun's personal or entity-controlled HT holdings is unclear, creating concentration risk and potential for market manipulation
  • Opaque token flows: Large HT transfers between HTX-associated addresses and Justin Sun-linked wallets have been observed by on-chain analysts, raising questions about treasury management
  • Historical distribution: Original HT distribution included team, investor, and user allocations that have been fully unlocked
  • Market cap decline: HT's market cap has dropped significantly from its historical highs, reflecting both price decline and confidence erosion

The fundamental tokenomics mechanism (fee-funded burns) is standard, but the execution environment — declining volumes, opaque ownership, and controversial leadership — undermines confidence in the token's value trajectory.

Transparency

HTX's transparency practices are among the worst of major exchange tokens:

  • Proof of reserves: HTX has published PoR snapshots, but their credibility is questioned given Justin Sun's history of opaque financial practices across TRON, Poloniex, and other entities
  • No financial disclosure: As a private entity with unclear corporate structure, no revenue, cost, or profitability data is publicly available
  • Ownership obfuscation: Justin Sun's exact role and ownership stake in HTX have been deliberately vague, initially described as "advisor" despite clear operational control
  • Related-party concerns: HTX, TRON, Poloniex (also Sun-controlled), HECO Chain, and various Sun-associated entities operate with unclear boundaries and potential asset commingling
  • SEC charges: Justin Sun faces SEC charges for fraud, market manipulation, and unregistered securities offerings. While these charges relate primarily to TRON tokens, they cast a shadow over all Sun-controlled entities including HTX
  • Staff communication: Former Huobi employees have publicly raised concerns about the management transition and operational direction

The transparency score of 2 is among the lowest possible, reflecting not just absence of disclosure but active opacity and the involvement of a figure facing federal fraud charges.

Risk Profile

HT carries among the highest counterparty risk of any exchange token in this review:

  • Justin Sun association: Sun's SEC charges, history of questionable business practices, and reputation for prioritizing personal enrichment over platform health create existential risk for HTX
  • Security track record: $130+ million in cumulative hack losses across HTX and HECO Chain in 2023 alone demonstrate serious operational security failures
  • Regulatory exposure: No meaningful licensing in major jurisdictions, combined with Sun's regulatory baggage, creates vulnerability to enforcement actions
  • Volume trajectory: Declining volumes suggest a platform in contraction, not growth
  • Asset commingling concerns: Unclear boundaries between HTX, TRON, Poloniex, and other Sun entities raise FTX-adjacent concerns about asset segregation
  • Key-person risk: HTX's fate is inextricably linked to Justin Sun, whose legal and regulatory situation adds ongoing uncertainty

The risk profile is severe. While HTX has not collapsed and continues to operate, the combination of factors — declining health metrics, security failures, regulatory charges against leadership, and abysmal transparency — makes HT suitable only for traders who fully understand and accept these risks.

Risk Factors

  • Justin Sun legal exposure: SEC charges for fraud and market manipulation could escalate, potentially triggering enforcement actions against HTX.
  • Security failures: Recent major hacks demonstrate operational security weaknesses.
  • Declining relevance: Falling volumes and market share indicate a platform losing competitive position.
  • Asset commingling risk: Unclear entity boundaries raise concerns about fund segregation.
  • Transparency deficit: Among the worst disclosure practices of any major exchange.
  • Regulatory vulnerability: No meaningful licensing provides no buffer against enforcement.
  • Staff exodus: Layoffs and departures reduce operational capability and institutional knowledge.
  • Market manipulation concerns: On-chain observations of large HT movements between associated wallets raise market integrity questions.

Conclusion

HTX Token (HT) represents what happens when a once-respected exchange falls under controversial leadership. Huobi was a pioneer — one of the first major crypto exchanges, serving millions of users for nearly a decade. Under Justin Sun's stewardship, HTX has experienced declining volumes, multiple major security incidents totaling $130+ million in losses, staff reductions, and a near-complete erosion of institutional credibility.

The 3.2 overall score — among the lowest in the exchange token category — reflects an exchange in decline managed by a figure facing federal fraud charges. The transparency score of 2 and risk score of 2 highlight the severity of the governance and accountability concerns. HT's remaining utility depends entirely on HTX's continued operation, which itself depends on factors beyond normal business risk: Justin Sun's legal situation, regulatory enforcement decisions, and whether the platform can stabilize its declining trajectory.

HT is not recommended for holders seeking reliable exchange token exposure. The risk-reward profile is fundamentally impaired by leadership, transparency, and security concerns that have no clear path to resolution. For exchange token exposure, alternatives like OKB, BGB, or even LEO offer materially better risk profiles. HT should only be considered by traders who are active on HTX and derive direct utility from fee discounts, with full awareness that the platform carries above-average counterparty risk.

Sources

  • HTX (formerly Huobi) official communications: https://www.htx.com
  • SEC v. Justin Sun et al. — complaint and case documents
  • HECO Chain bridge exploit analysis (PeckShield, SlowMist)
  • HTX hot wallet hack analysis (September 2023)
  • On-chain analysis of HTX/Sun-associated wallet movements
  • CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap exchange rankings and volume data
  • Independent volume analysis (Kaiko, CryptoCompare)
  • Former Huobi staff public statements and interviews
  • Justin Sun regulatory and legal history documentation
  • HTX proof of reserves publications