We funded an HTX account, traded spot BTC/USDT, and dug into the two hacks the exchange absorbed in a single month of 2023. Here is what the fee schedule costs today and whether the rebuild since then is enough to trust it with real balances.
HTX used to be Huobi, one of the exchanges that made Chinese crypto trading a global business before regulators forced it out of the country. The rebrand came with new ownership tied to Justin Sun, and the question this review actually has to answer is not whether HTX has liquidity, it clearly does, but whether the exchange behind that liquidity survived 2023 in any shape worth trusting today.
The trading experience itself is fine
We placed a BTC/USDT market order and it filled immediately, with a spread narrow enough that slippage on a modest order size did not register. The order book on our test showed real depth around the current price rather than the thin, gapped books smaller exchanges sometimes display. If HTX only had to answer for its trading engine, this would be a short and largely positive review.
Fees reward volume and HT holders
HTX's base spot rate sits at 0.2% for both maker and taker orders, in line with most mid-sized exchanges. Paying fees in HT, the exchange's native token, cuts that by 25%, and the discount holds for as long as you keep the token, not just on the trade where you enable it. Climb the volume-based VIP tiers and maker fees drop below 0.08% at the top brackets, though reaching those tiers requires trading volume most retail users will never hit.
