FCA Moves Against HTX in London Over Illegal Crypto Promotions – Warning to Other Exchanges

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has filed a lawsuit against several entities connected to the digital asset exchange HTX, formerly known as Huobi, accusing the platform of unlawfully promoting cryptoasset services to consumers in the United ￰2￱ case, filed in London’s High Court on Tuesday, marks a rare civil action by the UK’s top financial watchdog against a major global ￰3￱ to the report, HTX breached the country’s financial promotions regime by targeting UK users without proper authorization or registration. “The FCA has commenced civil proceedings in the High Court against HTX, a global crypto exchange, for unlawfully promoting cryptoasset services to UK consumers,” the agency said in an emailed statement.

“This action is part of our commitment to protect consumers and uphold the integrity of UK financial markets.” The regulator’s move embodies its zero-tolerance stance toward overseas exchanges operating in the UK without registration or compliance ￰4￱ the implementation of the Financial Promotions Regime, the FCA has repeatedly warned exchanges, including Binance, KuCoin, and OKX, over unauthorized marketing. HTX’s Second Warning: FCA Lawsuit Indicates Tougher UK Stance on Crypto Ads The FCA’s move follows multiple consumer alerts issued earlier this year, warning that HTX was operating without authorization while promoting its services to UK ￰5￱ exchange has previously used the Huobi brand across several jurisdictions, raising concerns about how its marketing practices cross regulatory boundaries.

Additionally, Justin Sun, who serves as an adviser to HTX and is known for his close association with the Trump family’s digital asset ventures , is not listed as a ￰6￱ Sun nor his representatives have commented publicly on the ￰7￱ what exactly is the law defaulted by HTX? Under the UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA), firms must not communicate any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity unless the promotion is authorized or approved by a licensed ￰8￱ applies regardless of whether the company is based in the UK or abroad, so long as the promotion can influence UK consumers.) and consumer protection standards, which many overseas firms have struggled to meet.

Crypto’s Compliance Struggle: Only 44 of 359 Firms Pass FCA’s Registration Test Britain’s financial promotions regime for cryptoassets came into force after Parliament expanded existing rules to include digital ￰9￱ then, the FCA has intensified enforcement, warning that only firms registered under the UK’s Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs) or authorized under FSMA can legally promote crypto ￰10￱ FCA has faced challenges in bringing crypto activity under ￰11￱ April 2023 and March 2024, the agency reported an 87% failure rate among crypto firms seeking registration under anti-money laundering ￰12￱ of 35 applications, only four received ￰13￱ the regime began in 2020, 44 out of 359 firms have successfully registered.) is reinforcing its message that the crypto industry will no longer operate outside the traditional financial ￰14￱ regulator recently opened consultations on applying full financial services-style regulation to crypto firms , including new requirements on governance, operational resilience, and financial crime ￰15￱ @TheFCA has proposed exemptions for crypto firms from some TradFi rules, opening debate on market oversight. #crypto #regulation #UK ￰0￱ — ￰16￱ (@cryptonews) September 17, 2025 The guiding principle, the FCA said, is “same risk, same regulatory outcome.” In its consultation paper , the FCA suggested crypto companies could face obligations similar to those applied to consumer credit providers, rather than banks, reflecting their smaller systemic ￰17￱ proposals also explore whether the FCA’s Consumer Duty, which requires firms to ensure good outcomes for customers, should extend to the crypto ￰18￱ this, the crypto industry reacted cautiously, accusing the regulator of rigidity and ￰19￱ industry associations and exchange operators have warned that the FCA’s approach could stifle innovation and push startups ￰20￱ frustration has been amplified by implementation delays and prolonged approval timelines, which many firms say create regulatory ￰21￱ the criticism, the FCA’s stance has remained ￰22￱ argue that crypto’s growing retail adoption and institutional interest justify a mature, rules-based framework, not a light-touch ￰23￱ UK FCA will allow retail investors to access crypto ETNs starting Oct 8—reversing a 4+ year ban. #FCA #ETNs ￰1￱ — ￰24￱ (@cryptonews) August 1, 2025 The regulator’s broader strategy reflects the UK’s dual-track approach: encouraging market growth through selective liberalization, such as the August decision to lift the four-year ban on crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs) .