What is Huobi / HTX

Huobi, rebranded as HTX in September 2023, is one of the oldest and largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Asia founded in 2013 in Beijing by Leon Li. At its peak, Huobi was one of the three largest exchanges globally alongside Binance and OKX, processing billions in daily trading volume. The exchange has navigated significant regulatory challenges, geographic pivots, and ownership changes throughout its decade-long history.

HISTORY AND FOUNDING

Huobi launched in September 2013 in China, quickly becoming one of the country's most popular Bitcoin trading platforms during the 2013 bull market. The exchange grew rapidly, expanding to offer futures, lending, and spot trading across hundreds of cryptocurrency pairs. At peak activity in 2017-2018, Huobi consistently ranked among the world's top three exchanges by volume.

THE CHINA REGULATORY CHALLENGE

China's September 2021 comprehensive cryptocurrency ban forced Huobi to exit its domestic Chinese market entirely its largest user base. The exchange relocated operations to the Seychelles and subsequently opened regulated entities in multiple jurisdictions. Huobi had previously navigated China's 2017 ICO ban and exchange restrictions, but the 2021 blanket prohibition required complete strategic restructuring.

THE HT TOKEN (HUOBI TOKEN)

HT is Huobi's native exchange token. Similar to Binance's BNB model, HT provided: trading fee discounts for holders, access to Huobi Prime (token launches), participation in Huobi's buy-back and burn mechanism, and elevated VIP trading tiers. With the rebrand to HTX and ownership change, HT's utility and tokenomics have evolved.

THE REBRAND TO HTX

In 2022, Tron founder Justin Sun became a strategic advisor and reportedly major stakeholder in Huobi, following which the exchange was rebranded to HTX in September 2023. The rebrand aimed to signal a new chapter while leveraging the original "H" from Huobi, "T" from Tron, and "X" for exchange.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

HTX offers spot trading (300+ pairs), derivatives (futures and options), HTX Earn (staking and savings), Launchpad (token launches), copy trading, and the Heco blockchain ecosystem.

Terms in addition to the Huobi / HTX

Blockchain

A blockchain is a subset of a distributed database. The Bitcoin inventors originally prototyped the system in 2008. This modern database is made up of separate blocks that are connected together in a chronological chain. Blockchains may be used to store a wide range of data types. It has mostly been utilized as a public ledger for bitcoin transactions to date. A peer-to-peer network comprised of independent nodes uses a consensus process to ensure the blockchain's security and legitimacy. Each node in the network keeps a public and immutable copy of the data.

2 Factor Authentication (2FA)

2 Factor Authentication is a security measure with two layers. It is used by the majority of cryptocurrency exchanges. To log in, you must provide not only a password, but also a code obtained, for example, from the Google authenticator.

Airdrop

An airdrop is a method of distributing coins. End users can typically obtain coins for free or in exchange for doing a small task, such as subscribing to a newsletter, sending a tweet, or inviting others via a personal affiliate link. Cryptocurrency airdrops — the act of depositing cryptocurrency into public crypto wallets — are utilized as a marketing, liquidity creation, and network bootstrapping technique for many different types of blockchain initiatives.

Altcoin

Altcoin - "alternative coin" - is any kind of digital currency other than Bitcoin. Since the launch of Bitcoin, the world's first digital currency, many altcoins (as well as supporting blockchains) have been created. Altcoin digital currencies share many similarities to Bitcoin, but consistently and have significant differences. There are about 20,000 altcoins, and this number is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Altcoins often develop Bitcoin features. Ethereum, currently the most widely used blockchain, supports digital contracts and separate applications where Bitcoin does not. Altcoins are also often created to cater to the needs of different users. The Litecoin blockchain, for example, can process payments quarterly for the duration of Bitcoin.

Cold Storage

Cold storage is the way to store cryptocurrency offline. The word refers to the use of offline wallets that are not connected to the internet. Cold storage is the most secure way to keep cryptocurrencies since an offline currency becomes less likely to be hacked and stolen. Paper wallets, printed renditions of private keys, and offline hardware and software wallets are all examples of cold storage.