FCA Commences High Court Proceedings Against Crypto Exchange HTX, February 2026

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) filed legal proceedings against global crypto exchange HTX (formerly Huobi) on 21 October 2025 in the Chancery Division of the High Court of England and Wales. On 4 February 2026, the High Court granted the FCA permission to serve those proceedings out of the jurisdiction and by alternative means. The action is at the litigation stage, with no final judgment issued. The FCA simultaneously publicised the matter to UK consumers on 10 February 2026. The defendants named in Claim No. FS-2025-000015 include Huobi Global S.A. (incorporated in Panama) and multiple categories of Persons Unknown: those who own or control htx.com, those who are the HTX Operators as defined in the HTX Platform User Agreement dated 13 July 2023, and those who control HTX's social media accounts on platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, TikTok, YouTube, Discord, Medium, and LinkedIn.

The controlling legal provision is the financial promotions regime for cryptoassets established under section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000), as applied to cryptoassets by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (SI 2005/1529), as amended by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment) Order 2023 (SI 2023/792). That amending Order, which came into force on 8 October 2023, requires all firms communicating financial promotions relating to cryptoassets to UK consumers — including overseas firms — to either be FCA-authorised, to have their promotions approved by an authorised person, or to qualify for an exemption. Advertising cryptoassets on social media or websites without complying with those conditions constitutes a criminal offence.

HTX operates without FCA authorisation or registration. The FCA had previously placed HTX on its warning list and made repeated, unanswered engagement attempts. Following the commencement of proceedings, HTX restricted new UK customer registrations, but existing UK users retained access to the exchange and were still exposed to allegedly unlawful financial promotions. The FCA requested that social media platforms block HTX's accounts for UK-based users and asked Google and Apple to remove the HTX application from their UK app stores. This is the first enforcement action the FCA has brought against a crypto firm under the October 2023 financial promotions regime.

The HTX matter confirms that the October 2023 regime applies to exchanges based outside the United Kingdom that direct marketing at UK consumers. Crypto exchanges, wallet providers, and any entity publishing cryptoasset promotions accessible by UK users must ensure those communications are either made by or approved by an FCA-authorised person, or fall within a specified exemption. The opaque ownership structure of HTX — named defendants are largely Persons Unknown — demonstrates the FCA's willingness to proceed against unidentified controllers via alternative service, raising the practical risk exposure for any offshore operator with UK-facing marketing activity.

Source: FCA, "HTX (formerly Huobi): legal proceedings information," Claim No. FS-2025-000015, published 10 February 2026, https://www.fca.org.uk/news/statements/htx-huobi-legal-proceedings (confirmed 4 March 2026). See also: Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment) Order 2023, SI 2023/792, in force 8 October 2023.

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