HTX (Huobi) Review 2026: Fees, Security Record and Country Access

HTX (formerly Huobi) is a good fit only if you already live outside its own blocked-country list: it runs spot, futures, margin, staking, copy trading and P2P on one account^†, and it has operated since 2013^†. It is a poor fit for anyone in the United States, United Kingdom or Canada, since HTX's own Platform User Agreement names all three among prohibited jurisdictions — and a November 2023 breach of its hot wallets and HECO Chain bridge is on the public record. This review covers what we could verify about its fees, products, KYC, country access and that incident.

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RISK: Crypto assets are volatile and unregulated in many jurisdictions. Not financial advice.

Who Should Use HTX, and Who Should Skip It?

HTX suits a trader outside its restricted-country list who wants a wide product set — spot, futures, margin, staking, copy trading and P2P^† — on an exchange that has run since 2013^† out of Singapore^†. It charges a base rate of 0.2% maker and 0.2% taker before any VIP discount^††, roughly double what Binance and Bybit charge their regular tier^††††.

Skip HTX if you are in the US, UK or Canada — its own terms block all three outright, so the fee comparison never even becomes relevant. Skip it too if an unbroken security record matters to you: HTX's hot wallets and its HECO Chain bridge were compromised in November 2023, and we hold no verified proof-of-reserves record for HTX, unlike Binance, where we do^†.

What Are HTX's Trading Fees?

HTX's base rate is 0.2% maker and 0.2% taker, with a tiered VIP discount available above that^††. Binance's regular VIP0 tier charges 0.1% maker and 0.1% taker^††, and Bybit's regular tier is the same 0.1% and 0.1%, with a maker rebate available on top^††. Here is what that gap costs on a round trip of one market buy and one market sell on a $2,000 order:

On maker orders the gap has the same shape: 0.2% on HTX against 0.1% on both Binance and Bybit^†††. Run your own trade size through our fee calculator before deciding the gap is small enough to ignore — at higher volume it compounds fast. Withdrawal fees are not verified in our data for HTX, so check them on the exchange directly before moving funds.

What Products Does HTX Offer?

HTX runs spot trading, futures, margin, staking, copy trading and a P2P marketplace^†, which is a wider set than Bybit offers — our records show no P2P or card product on Bybit^†. iOS and Android apps are both available^†, and support runs through email and a help center, listed as 24/7^†. We have no verified average response time, so we will not estimate one.

Why Did Huobi Rebrand to HTX?

Huobi renamed itself HTX on September 13, 2023, timed to the exchange's 10th anniversary, according to HTX's own announcement dated September 13, 2023 — the rebrand announcement (checked 2026-09-13). The old name is still what most people type into a search bar, which is why "Huobi" and "HTX" are treated as the same exchange throughout this review — a search result under one name is not a different, newer platform than the other.

Is HTX Safe After the 2023 Heco Bridge Incident?

In November 2023, HTX's own hot wallets and its HECO Chain bridge were compromised in what Tron founder Justin Sun confirmed was an exploit, according to CoinDesk (checked 2026-09-13). HTX said it would cover the affected hot-wallet losses and temporarily paused deposits and withdrawals while it investigated.

We found no verified proof-of-reserves record for HTX. That is a different position from Binance, where we do hold one^†; it does not mean HTX has none, only that we could not verify one either way.

What KYC Does HTX Require?

HTX requires identity verification on standard accounts^†. We do not have a verified, itemized document checklist from HTX's own help pages, so we will not guess at tier thresholds or turnaround times. Given that HTX's own terms already exclude US, UK and Canadian residents outright, KYC is really a second gate that only matters for users in markets HTX has not already blocked.

Is HTX Available in My Country?

The table below reflects HTX's own Platform User Agreement and its separate Canada restriction announcement, both checked on 2026-09-13.

That is a wider block list than KuCoin or Kraken publish, and it rules out three of the four markets this review is written for before fees or products even matter. "Not listed as restricted" for Australia is not the same as "regulated there" — we found no verified regulatory registration for HTX in any of these four markets when we checked on 2026-09-13. For how a less-restrictive pair compares against each other, see Binance and our Binance vs Bybit head-to-head, or the full HTX overview.

What Are HTX's Pros and Cons?

Common Mistakes People Make When Considering HTX

1. Checking fees before checking the country list. HTX's own terms block the US, UK and Canada; the 0.2% base rate^† never becomes relevant if you are in one of those three markets.
2. Treating age as a safety record. HTX has operated since 2013^†, but the 2023 Heco bridge breach happened to a decade-old exchange, not a new one — longevity and a clean security record are separate facts.
3. Reading "Australia is not listed as restricted" as "HTX is regulated in Australia." We found no verified registration; the terms simply do not name Australia among the blocked jurisdictions.
4. Putting an unbounded share of funds on one exchange. Our knowledge base's trading-discipline card draws the line between an investor and a gambler at whether a loss is capped in advance rather than discovered after the fact — applied to custody, that means deciding upfront how much you would accept losing if a hot wallet or bridge were hit again, instead of finding out during the next incident.
5. Comparing only the headline maker/taker rate. Withdrawal fees are not verified in our data, and an exchange charging half HTX's trading fee can still cost more on a small transfer once withdrawal costs are added.

How Do You Decide Between HTX and a Regulated Alternative?

1. Confirm you are not in the US, UK or Canada first — HTX's terms block all three regardless of anything else in this review.
2. Price your actual monthly volume against Binance's or Bybit's regular-tier rate, which runs at roughly half HTX's base rate on both sides^††.
3. Weigh the November 2023 incident and the missing proof-of-reserves record against the specific products — copy trading, P2P — you actually plan to use^†.
4. Read HTX's current terms directly before depositing; restricted-jurisdiction lists change without notice, per HTX's own postings.

Related guides

• Fee calculator — run your own trade size against HTX's base rate before assuming the gap is small.
• Best crypto exchange for low fees — flat- and low-rate venues ranked on verified fee data.
• Binance vs Bybit — a head-to-head between two exchanges HTX's own terms restrict less than they restrict HTX itself.
• Our methodology explains how we verify exchange data before publishing it.

FAQ

Can US residents use HTX?

No. HTX's own Platform User Agreement names the United States among prohibited jurisdictions (terms, checked 2026-09-13). Traders in the US need an exchange that does not exclude the market outright — see our HTX overview for how it compares on paper, or our low-fee shortlist for exchanges that do operate there.

Is HTX cheaper than Binance or Bybit?

No. HTX's base rate is 0.2% maker and 0.2% taker^††, while Binance and Bybit both run 0.1% and 0.1% on their regular tier^††††. VIP tiers can close part of that gap at higher volume, but we have not verified HTX's full VIP schedule in detail.

Is HTX safe to use after the 2023 hack?

We cannot answer that for you — what we can verify is that HTX's hot wallets and its HECO Chain bridge were breached in November 2023, that HTX said it would cover the hot-wallet losses, and that we hold no verified proof-of-reserves record for HTX today (CoinDesk, checked 2026-09-13). Weigh that against exchanges where we do hold a verified proof-of-reserves record, such as Binance^†.

RISK: Crypto assets are volatile and unregulated in many jurisdictions. Not financial advice.

Last updated: 2026-09-13