The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and cryptocurrency exchange HTX, formerly Huobi, are in settlement discussions over a lawsuit alleging illegal financial promotions targeting UK consumers. London’s High Court has paused proceedings until late August to allow the two sides to reach terms, according to court filings reported by Reuters and Wu Blockchain.
The FCA began the case in October 2024, marking the first enforcement action of its kind against a crypto exchange over marketing rules. The claim was published in February and seeks an injunction and a declaration that the defendants breached section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act, which prohibits unauthorized financial promotions.
The particulars of claim name Huobi Global S.A., a Panamanian company incorporated in May 2023, alongside four categories of 'persons unknown' related to whoever owns or controls htx.com, operates its social accounts, or assumes those roles before October 31, 2028. Justin Sun, who took a controlling stake in 2022, is not named.
The regulator presented evidence that an FCA employee using a UK IP address bought cryptoassets through the exchange’s peer-to-peer service and executed futures trades after verifying identity with a UK driving licence. The FCA also noted the platform operates in English, accepts GBP and UK photo ID, and that its terms bar UK retail users only from derivatives rather than all cryptoassets.
HTX was placed on the FCA warning list in October 2023, the day the rules took effect, and did not answer the regulator’s letter before action in August 2025. The talks run alongside UK and EU sanctions against HTX and Justin Sun over alleged links to Russian sanctions evasion, though the FCA claim concerns marketing alone. An HTX spokesperson said the exchange remains dedicated to compliance, transparency and user protection.
