FCA Secures High Court Undertakings as HTX Exits UK Market

The UK Financial Conduct Authority announced on 29 October 2026 that it has secured High Court undertakings ensuring that HTX, the global crypto exchange formerly known as Huobi, will not knowingly promote cryptoasset services unlawfully to UK consumers, and that it has reached a settlement with Huobi Global S.A. in the case it brought against the exchange in October 2025.

HTX is no longer active in the UK, the regulator said. Consumers can no longer make deposits, new UK users cannot sign up to the platform, and HTX will not target, solicit or actively seek to engage UK consumers.

Steve Smart, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “Crypto firms should be under no illusion: being based overseas does not put them beyond the reach of UK law. Our action means HTX is leaving the UK and can no longer target UK consumers. The message to other firms is clear: follow the rules or face the consequences.”

The FCA took legal action against HTX in October 2025 for breaking UK financial promotion rules, and said the exchange had failed repeatedly to engage with it. Following the commencement of proceedings, HTX took steps to exit the UK. The terms of the settlement are confidential and do not constitute an admission of liability or wrongdoing by Huobi Global or any other person or entity, the FCA said.

Tomlin Order Terms

The undertakings are set out in a Tomlin order made by Deputy Master Holden on 27 October 2026 in the Business and Property Division of the High Court, Business List, Financial Services and Regulatory Sub-List, under claim number FS-2025-000015. The claim names Huobi Global S.A., a company incorporated in Panama, as first defendant, alongside four categories of Persons Unknown: the owners or controllers of htx.com and its associated mobile applications; the legal or natural persons defined as HTX Operators in the HTX Platform User Agreement version dated 13 July 2023; the persons in control of promotions on behalf of the HTX Exchange on X, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, TikTok, YouTube, Discord, Medium and LinkedIn; and persons who on or before 31 October 2028 become an owner or controller of the exchange, an HTX Operator, or a controller of the exchange’s accounts on those platforms.

Under the order’s schedule, Huobi Global undertakes until 21 October 2031 that it will not knowingly, whether directly or indirectly and whether by its officers, servants or agents or otherwise, communicate or cause to be communicated any financial promotion in contravention of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The undertaking expressly covers promotions on the htx.com website or any similar website published by the operator of the HTX Exchange, on any software application made available by that operator, and on social media platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, TikTok, YouTube, Discord, Medium and LinkedIn.

The order records that the FCA and Huobi Global agreed the terms of a confidential settlement agreement dated 16 October 2026, copies of which are held by the FCA and by solicitors for Huobi Global. It stays all further proceedings except for the purposes of enforcing those terms, gives the FCA and Huobi Global permission to apply to the court to enforce the agreement without bringing a new claim, makes no order as to costs, and dispenses with personal service of the order for the purposes of CPR 81. The order is to be served by the FCA on the first four defendants in accordance with the court’s 4 February 2026 order and publicised to the fifth defendant under that order.

According to the FCA’s published chronology of the proceedings, the claim form is dated 21 October 2025, the particulars of claim 20 October 2025 and the application notice 22 October 2025. On 4 February 2026 the High Court granted the FCA permission to serve the proceedings out of the jurisdiction and by alternative means. Further orders followed on 31 March, 25 June, 24 August, 7 September, 5 October and 14 October 2026, ahead of the 27 October 2026 Tomlin order, which the FCA added to its public case file on 29 October 2026.

The FCA first publicly announced the action on 10 February 2026, describing it as the first time it had taken enforcement action against a crypto firm illegally marketing products to UK consumers. The regulator said at the time that HTX had continued to publish financial promotions in breach of the rules on its website and on social media platforms including TikTok, X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube despite earlier warnings, that HTX operated an opaque organisational structure hiding the identities of its owners and the operators of its website, and that repeated attempts to engage with the exchange had been ignored. It also said that after the proceedings were issued, HTX had taken steps to restrict new UK customers from registering, but existing UK users could still log in and access unlawful financial promotions, and HTX had given no assurance the changes would be permanent. To protect consumers, the FCA requested that social media companies block HTX’s accounts to UK-based consumers and that HTX’s applications be removed from the Google Play and Apple stores in the UK. HTX was on the FCA’s Warning List.

UK Exit and Withdrawal Arrangements

The FCA directed UK users of HTX to information published on HTX’s website about the availability of its services in the UK and the arrangements for withdrawing any residual assets. In the notice, HTX states that it does not provide services to persons resident in the United Kingdom, that account registration and KYC cannot be completed from a UK IP address, and that existing accounts identified as UK accounts remain restricted as part of its UK exit arrangements and cannot be used to make deposits, trade or transact on any HTX product or service.

According to the notice, eligible individual users who continue to hold residual assets can contact HTX customer support to request a one-time 48-hour withdrawal window, subject to the conditions and limits of the applicable Personal Remittances General Licence and to HTX’s identity, ownership, sanctions, AML, fraud and account-security controls. If approved, the user must personally withdraw all remaining assets during the 48-hour period, and HTX will not transfer assets on the user’s behalf. The notice states that reporting obligations to HM Treasury or another relevant authority may apply to a cryptoasset withdrawal and that users are responsible for determining and complying with any obligation that applies to them. Following full withdrawal, the account will be closed, and affected users are asked to contact [email protected] from the email address registered to their HTX account to provide the personal-use confirmation.

Under the financial promotions regime, which has applied since October 2023 to all cryptoasset firms marketing to UK consumers including firms based overseas, advertising cryptoassets on social media or websites without complying with the rules is a criminal offence, the FCA has said. The regulator said crypto remains largely unregulated in the UK, except for anti-money laundering and financial promotions, until October 2027, and said consumers should check a firm’s permissions using the FCA Firm Checker and remember that cryptoassets are high-risk investments.