The UK financial watchdog has taken legal action against Chinese-founded crypto exchange HTX for illegally promoting services to UK customers.
Founded as Huobi by former Oracle engineer Leon Lu, HTX is among the largest global crypto exchanges. It is headquartered in Seychelles with offices in South Korea, Japan, the United States and Hong Kong, where it also has a public listing.
Action has been taken against the firm by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) because it has been advertising cryptoasset services to British consumers in violation of the regulator’s crypto promotions rules, which came into force in 2023.
The FCA said it has previously warned HTX about illegal promotions, however, it has continued to publish them on its website and social media.
The regulator noted the exchange operates an “opaque organisational structure” that includes hiding the identities of its owners and operators. Repeated attempts from the FCA to engage with HTX have been ignored.
“Our rules are designed to support a sustainable and competitive crypto market in the UK, ensuring that consumers have what they need to make informed decisions,” said Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA.
“HTX’s conduct stands in stark contrast to the majority of firms working to comply with the FCA’s regime. This is the first time we’ve taken enforcement action against a crypto firm illegally marketing their products to UK consumers. We’ll continue to act against firms who ignore our rules.”
The FCA has requested social media companies block HTX’s accounts to UK-based consumers and has requested that Apple and Google remove its app from their stores for UK users.