How to read these grades: each is derived from published, checkable disclosures — proof-of-reserves attestations, public regulatory registers, disclosed insurance funds and the documented incident record — using the weighted rubric below. Where an exchange does not disclose something, we mark it unverified rather than assume it. These are not audits and not investment advice; they reflect what was published as of our last review.
HTX
HTX publishes monthly Merkle-tree proof of reserves that excludes corporate holdings, discloses only a Pakistani no-objection certificate among its authorisations, blocked the entire EU rather than seek MiCA licensing, and faces UK FCA High Court proceedings.
BySafety DeskSenior Exchange Safety Editor
Our HTX review
HTX publishes one of the longest unbroken reserve-proof records in this corpus and holds almost no authorisation we could confirm. The B rests almost entirely on the first of those.
What checks out
Merkle-tree proof of reserves is published monthly, a run of 36 consecutive months as of October 2025 and most recently published in July 2026. Consistency over that span is itself evidence — a programme that survives three years of market conditions is harder to stage than a single snapshot. Note one limit stated in the proof itself: corporate holdings are excluded, so what is being proved is customer-side coverage, not the company's whole balance sheet.
Where the evidence stops
Among all the authorisations HTX lists, only a Pakistan PVARA no-objection certificate was confirmed. It holds no MiCA and no UK authorisation, and rather than seek one it blocked the entire European Union from 1 July 2026 — a decision that removes the question rather than answering it. The UK FCA began High Court proceedings against Huobi Global S.A. on 21 October 2025 over illegal financial promotions. No insurance or safety-fund figure is publicly confirmed, which is a disclosure gap rather than a finding that none exists. Third-party reviewers describe cold storage as air-gapped with hardware security modules and multi-signature controls, but no cold/hot split is disclosed and we could not confirm one at source. About $7.9–8m, or 5,000 ETH, was stolen in September 2023; roughly 95% was recovered by negotiating with the attacker, a 5% white-hat bounty was paid, and no user losses were reported.
How to read the grade
You can check what HTX says it holds. You cannot, in most of the world, check who is allowed to hold it. If your jurisdiction matters to you, that gap is the whole review.
Grade breakdown
Every KripZen grade comes from the same five weighted checks. Here is how HTX scores on each.
- Proof of reservesWeight 30%
Monthly Merkle-tree proof of reserves, a run of 36 consecutive months as of October 2025 and most recently published July 2026; corporate holdings are excluded from the proof.
What this means → meets this factor - CustodyWeight 25%
Cold storage is described by third-party reviewers as air-gapped with hardware security modules and multi-signature controls, but no cold/hot split is disclosed and we could not confirm one from a primary source.
What this means → partial or unverified - RegulationWeight 20%
Only a Pakistan PVARA no-objection certificate was confirmed among its listed authorisations; it holds no MiCA or UK authorisation and blocked the entire European Union from 1 July 2026 rather than seek one. The UK FCA began High Court proceedings against Huobi Global S.A. on 21 October 2025 over illegal financial promotions.
What this means → partial or unverified - InsuranceWeight 15%
No insurance or safety-fund figure is publicly confirmed. That is a disclosure gap rather than confirmation that none exists.
partial or unverified - Incident historyWeight 10%
About $7.9–8m (5,000 ETH) stolen in September 2023; roughly 95% was recovered by negotiation with the attacker, with a 5% white-hat bounty paid and no user losses reported.
partial or unverified