HTX did what most exchanges couldn’t in 2024 and 2025 — it grew phenomenally. While most crypto exchanges saw trading activity level off or decline, HTX increased spot volume and added hundreds of new tokens. For instance, net deposits jumped 210% in Q1 2025 alone. That kind of growth doesn’t happen by accident. It reflects a clear focus on product, execution, and user trust. This review breaks down what HTX got right, from its excellent performance in 2024-2025 to its products, areas of concern, and other key aspects.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
➤ HTX is a global crypto exchange offering spot, futures, staking, and more for everyday users.
➤ HTX has operated for over 12 years, evolving from Huobi into a fast-growing international platform.
➤ The exchange offers over 900 trading pairs, SmartEarn, Launchpool, zero-cost futures, and DAO governance tools.
➤ HTX uses multi-layered security with cold storage, withdrawal controls, and real-time monitoring to protect user funds.
- What is HTX exchange?
- HTX’s climb in global crypto exchange rankings
- Which standout products does HTX offer?
- How does HTX approach new coin listings?
- How reliable and efficient is trading on HTX?
- How does HTX ensure security of user funds?
- How transparent is HTX about its reserves?
- What role does HTX’s DAO and token play?
- HTX exchange: Pros and cons
- Is HTX the right choice for you in 2025?
- Frequently asked questions
What is HTX exchange?
HTX is one of the oldest crypto exchanges still around and going strong. It started as Huobi in 2013 and rebranded to its current identity in 2023.
HTX stands for Huobi, TRON, and “X,” with the X symbolizing the exchange and a new chapter built around its connection with TRON. Also, X is the Roman numeral for 10. The exchange was renamed from Huobi shortly after its 10th anniversary.
The rebrand covers two main areas: expanding the platform’s global reach and diversifying its product offerings to achieve global expansion in a coordinated manner.
HTX now supports over 1,000 cryptocurrencies, serves users in more than 180 countries, and processes billions in daily trading volume.
With features like spot and futures trading, staking, and crypto-backed loans, HTX positions itself as a complete trading ecosystem for both newcomers and seasoned traders.
HTX’s climb in global crypto exchange rankings
HTX’s rise in the global rankings has been particularly evident since the 2023 rebranding. A big chunk of the credit goes to its consistent gains in security, liquidity, technology, and user confidence.
For instance, on CoinGecko’s authoritative exchange leaderboard, HTX jumped from 13th place to 7th, which reflected improvements in trading depth, security, and transparency.
It similarly leaped from 15th to 9th on CoinMarketCap’s exchange rankings. Other data aggregators echo this trend: HTX holds 6th place on DeFiLlama and an impressive 3rd on CryptoRank.In June 2025, a Kaiko report, which scores exchanges across six dimensions, ranked HTX #8 globally (up two spots from Q1) and awarded it an “AA” rating.
This report highlighted HTX as a standout in the Business and Technology categories while maintaining top-tier scores in Security.
Put simply, HTX’s all-around excellence – from high liquidity to strong governance and tech infrastructure – has earned it a spot among leading exchanges in the eyes of industry analysts and users alike.
Which standout products does HTX offer?
HTX offers flagship features such as Launchpool 2.0, SmartEarn, and TRX American Options. Each tool helps you earn and trade more effectively.
The exchange’s product strategy appears to be focused on how you can grow your crypto stash with ease and safety.
Launchpool 2.0, for example, lets holders of the $HTX token stake through flexible Earn products and receive multiple airdropped tokens as rewards. Launchpool has attracted over 186,000 participants to date, offering rewards in early-stage tokens to $HTX stakers.
Meanwhile, SmartEarn pays interest on any BTC, ETH and USDT funds in USDT-M futures accounts without lock-up, so users can earn passive income whether they open positions or not.
In June 2025, HTX launched TRX American Options, offering flexible expiries from 3 days to 6 months, low entry thresholds, and early exercise support — expanding its derivatives lineup and providing users with more tools to hedge risk or capture market opportunities.
These user-centric features, along with Trade-to-Earn rebates, Borrow & Earn, and gamified events, have helped the platform draw new users at scale.
How does HTX approach new coin listings?
HTX has a reputation for fast, first-to-market listings of promising assets, which often results in huge gains for early participants.
In 2024 alone, HTX listed 218 new cryptocurrencies, of which 171 were first launched on HTX before any other exchange. The exchange’s asset team prides itself on spotting emerging trends (like AI, DeFi, or meme coins) and rapidly onboarding quality projects. This strategy paid off with some spectacular token performances.
For instance, WIF, a Solana-based staking token listed in early 2024, skyrocketed to 121× its value post-HTX listing. A meme coin NEIROCTO jumped 137× after HTX became the first to support it.
Even in late 2024’s rally, community-driven coins like GOAT and ACT saw returns of 705% and 12,079% respectively, after debuting on HTX.
This “discover the next gem” approach continued into 2025: In Q1, HTX quickly listed trendy tokens such as AVAAI (+256%), new LUNA (+312%), and the novelty TRUMP token (which went 9×).
HTX’s agility was further evident in April 2025 when it listed 14 new tokens in one month across hot sectors like staking infrastructure and on-chain finance. Standouts included:
- STO: A staking protocol token that surged +303% after listing.
- DARK: A Metaverse (MCP) narrative token up +246%.
- HOUSE: A Solana meme coin that jumped +176%.
HTX was also the first exchange globally to list the World Liberty Financial USD stablecoin (USD1) in May 2025. This feat reinforced its image as a first-mover.
The takeaway: If you are looking for early access to the next potential moon-shot coin, HTX is often the platform leading the charge. Of course, not every new listing soars, but HTX’s track record in 2024–2025 shows a knack for picking winners and giving its users a chance to ride those waves early.
How reliable and efficient is trading on HTX?
HTX seems to be increasingly focusing on delivering a smooth trading experience backed by high liquidity, fast system performance, and a solid API for advanced users.
The platform consistently ranks among the top exchanges for its technical infrastructure and uptime. In practical terms, this means HTX has maintained excellent operational stability, with no major outages reported in recent years. Additionally, its trading engine has built a decent track record by consistently handling heavy loads without noticeable lag.
As for high-frequency traders and institutions, HTX offers ultra-low latency execution and stable API access. These are key features that contributed to its top-tier Technology scores in industry evaluations.
Liquidity is another standout area: HTX regularly appears in the top tier for both trading volume and order book depth across major pairs. In a mid-2024 benchmark, HTX recorded the fourth-highest liquidity among 43 tracked exchanges, with average daily volumes near $60 billion.
This level of depth enables tight bid-ask spreads and low slippage, even for large trades. The exchange supports over 900 trading pairs and offers advanced features like multi-asset margin. This enables you to use different cryptocurrencies as collateral — as well as a range of complex order types.
Going by user feedback so far, it appears that most users are, by and large, comfortable with the platform’s intuitive interface and advanced charting tools. These features make executing everything from basic spot trades to advanced futures strategies straightforward.
How does HTX ensure security of user funds?
HTX hasn’t always had a spotless record. Its hot wallets were targeted in late 2023, resulting in a loss of approximately $8 million. Another attempted breach in early 2024 led to temporary wallet suspensions but was swiftly contained with no user losses.
Since then, the platform has doubled down on security by expanding cold wallet coverage, launching real-time threat monitoring, and tightening withdrawal controls to better protect user funds and infrastructure.
As of June 2025, HTX has achieved more than 20 months with no major incidents while continually strengthening its safeguards. Remarkably, the exchange reported a “perfect security record” throughout 2024 with zero successful hacks or breaches.
HTX follows a multi-layered security architecture: most user assets sit in multi-signature cold wallets, and only a small tranche remains in hot wallets for liquidity. In 2024, HTX began publishing monthly Security Reports to boost transparency.
Those reports highlight proactive measures, including the takedown of 130 phishing domains in 2024 and the interception of more than $1.37 million in fraudulent withdrawals.
HTX stayed aggressive in 2025 as well, with new safeguards being rolled out, such as:
- Multi-device login verification and alerts for unusual withdrawals, which adds extra hurdles for attackers.
- Integration with Fireblocks Off-Exchange custody, so institutional clients can keep funds in secure storage until execution.
- Ongoing white-hat penetration testing and 24/7 monitoring partnerships.
For everyday users, HTX provides standard protections: 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 neither has required a headline-grabbing payout, as prevention continues to work.
How transparent is HTX about its reserves?
HTX aspires to be the industry benchmark for transparency. It has been publicly disclosing its asset reserves every month and maintaining full collateralization.
Unlike some exchanges that only occasionally publish 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 so users can verify that their account balances are included and fully backed by on-chain assets.
These reports consistently show 100%+ reserve ratios for all major assets, meaning HTX holds at least as much crypto in custody as customer balances (often holding excess).
HTX’s July 2025 PoR confirmed four consecutive months of USDT reserve growth, with holdings reaching 1.82 billion USDT, consistently exceeding user balances and reflecting accelerating capital inflows.
This surge reflects large net deposits (capital inflows) and indicates rising user confidence in the platform. By late 2024, HTX’s total customer asset balance reached about $5 billion (an 80% annual increase).
The exchange also assures that its commitment to transparency isn’t confined by mere numbers. It also voluntarily underwent third-party audits and has made its wallet addresses public for community monitoring.
For you as a user, these disclosures mean you don’t have to blindly trust HTX – you can verify that your coins are there.
What role does HTX’s DAO and token play?
HTX DAO, an ecosystem partner of HTX — a decentralized community organization where its governance token ($HTX) holders can vote on 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 changes: for instance, the DAO proposed and HTX implemented a “Multiple Staking Rewards” model (also described as One Asset, Multiple Rewards) that allows you to stake a token and earn multiple types of rewards concurrently.
In July 2025, HTX DAO launched a Listing Governance Mechanism, giving the community its first-ever right to propose token listings. This marks a major step toward DAO governance and HTX’s long-term vision of achieving financial freedom for the 8 billion people on Earth. Community members can nominate quality projects on the HTX DAO Forum, and shortlisted tokens will be voted on by $HTX holders via the DAO Vote Tool. Winning projects will be submitted for listing review by the Exchange.
While HTX DAO serves as an ecosystem partner of HTX, the $HTX token itself also carries typical exchange token benefits — holding $HTX can grant you trading fee discounts, VIP level upgrades, access to exclusive events, and a share in fee rebates.
Furthermore, in Q1 2025, the HTX DAO introduced a holding-based voting tool, making governance even more accessible (any user with a set amount of $HTX could vote easily on upcoming proposals).
Notably, HTX DAO has been actively reducing token supply via burns; in Q1 2025 the DAO oversaw the burn of 11.3 trillion $HTX , reinforcing a deflationary token model.
HTX DAO enables users to shape the ecosystem together — not just as traders, but as builders of decentralized finance.
HTX exchange: Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
| 12 years of excellence with strong security record and global footprints | Regulatory limits in some regions |
| Transparent with proof-of-reserve reports | Some reliance on $HTX token |
| 900+ trading pairs, frequent new tokens | History of breaches, now secure for 20+ consecutive months |
| Low trading fees and token-based discounts | |
| Multiple earning features (SmartEarn, Simple Earn, Launchpool) | |
| Deep liquidity and fast trade execution | |
| Unique features like zero-cost futures | |
| DAO participation for community input |
Is HTX the right choice for you in 2025?
Overall, it’s safe to say that HTX has come a long way on all fronts in 2025. It offers a user-friendly interface, a vast selection of trading pairs, and advanced features suited for both beginners and experienced traders.
So, all aspects considered, HTX stands out as an option worth considering, regardless of whether you are new to crypto or considering a switch from your current exchange.
Frequently asked questions
What is HTX and how is it different from Huobi?
Is HTX safe for storing and trading crypto?
What fees does HTX charge for trading?
Can I use fiat currency on HTX?
What earning options are available on HTX?
Disclaimer
In line with the Trust Project guidelines, the educational content on this website is offered in good faith and for general information purposes only. BeInCrypto prioritizes providing high-quality information, taking the time to research and create informative content for readers. While partners may reward the company with commissions for placements in articles, these commissions do not influence the unbiased, honest, and helpful content creation process. Any action taken by the reader based on this information is strictly at their own risk. Please note that our Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, and Disclaimers have been updated.
