Huobi was founded in 2013 by Leon Li in Beijing and quickly became one of the top three cryptocurrency exchanges in China alongside Binance and OKX, handling billions in daily volume at its peak. The 2021 Chinese crypto ban forced Huobi to shut down its Chinese operations and restructure as a global exchange headquartered in the Seychelles. In 2022, crypto influencer and Tron founder Justin Sun acquired a significant stake in Huobi, and the exchange underwent an aggressive rebrand to "HTX" (Huobi Tron X) in 2023 — the HTX brand reflecting Sun's involvement and the intended closer integration with the Tron ecosystem. The rebranding was controversial among long-term Huobi users; Sun's involvement brought both his large following and the reputational considerations that come with his controversial history in the industry. HTX remains a significant global exchange, particularly popular in Asian markets, but occupies a different tier of trust and institutional respect than it held at its 2017–2021 peak.
Trading Products and Features
HTX offers a comprehensive product set: Spot trading across 700+ pairs. Coin-margined and USDT-margined futures up to 200x leverage on BTC and ETH, lower on altcoins. Options (European vanilla on BTC). HTX Earn: savings products, dual investment, structured yield products. Copy trading: mirror professional traders' positions. The HT (Huobi Token) / HTX Token provides: up to 50% trading fee discount, staking yield, and IEO (Initial Exchange Offering) participation rights on HTX Prime. HTX's historical strength was in serving Asian traders, particularly for Korean, Japanese, and Southeast Asian cryptocurrency markets, with strong regional fiat on-ramp partnerships.
Setting Up API Keys for a Trading Bot on HTX
Step 1 — Complete KYC verification. HTX requires identity verification (KYC Level 1 minimum) before API key creation. Complete verification at htx.com/en-us/user/verify.
Step 2 — Create an API key. Go to Account → API Management → Create API Key. HTX's permission model:
- Read Only: Account balances, order history, market data. Always enable.
- Trade: Place and cancel spot and margin orders. Enable for trading bots.
- Withdraw: Never enable for bot keys.
Step 3 — IP whitelisting. HTX allows up to 20 IP addresses per API key. Under API key settings, add all static IPs your bot will operate from. Without IP whitelisting, any party who obtains your key can place orders from any IP.
Step 4 — Install the HTX Python SDK.
pip install huobi-client (official SDK maintained by Huobi/HTX)
Initialise:
from huobi.client.trade import TradeClient
trade_client = TradeClient(api_key=API_KEY, secret_key=API_SECRET)
Place order:
order_id = trade_client.create_order(symbol="btcusdt", account_id=ACCOUNT_ID, order_type="buy-limit", amount=0.001, price=95000, source="api")
Step 5 — WebSocket for real-time data.
HTX WebSocket endpoint: wss://api.huobi.pro/ws (market data) and wss://api.huobi.pro/ws/v2 (account/order data, authentication required). Subscription messages use HTX's JSON protocol with topic strings like "market.btcusdt.depth.step0" for order book data. Authentication for private WebSocket channels uses HMAC-SHA256 on a standardised signature string — see HTX API documentation for the exact format.
Step 6 — HTX-specific: getting your Account ID.
HTX's API requires an Account ID (not just API key) for order placement. Retrieve it: from huobi.client.account import AccountClient; account_client = AccountClient(api_key=API_KEY, secret_key=API_SECRET); accounts = account_client.get_accounts() — find the account with type "spot" and status "working", use its id field.
Who HTX Is Best For
HTX suits traders who are primarily active in Asian markets and need strong regional support; traders seeking access to Asian-market altcoin pairs with USDT and local stablecoin liquidity; and traders who already have existing HTX accounts and find the product set sufficient for their strategy. For new traders evaluating where to establish their primary trading account, the reputational and Justin Sun association considerations warrant research before committing significant capital.
HTX (Huobi) Platform and HT Token
HTX (formerly Huobi Global, rebranded in 2023) is one of the oldest and largest crypto exchanges globally, with over a decade of operational history spanning multiple market cycles. The rebranding to HTX followed Huobi's ownership transition to About Capital Management under Justin Sun's involvement — a change that brought significant media scrutiny and user concern but maintained the platform's operational continuity. HT (Huobi Token) remains the platform's native exchange token, providing fee discounts, IEO allocation priority, staking yields in HTX Earn, and governance participation across the HTX ecosystem.
HTX's derivatives platform covers perpetual and quarterly futures across hundreds of asset pairs with up to 200x leverage on major pairs — one of the highest leverage offerings in the market, though regulators in multiple jurisdictions have restricted maximum leverage for retail clients. HTX's Prime listing service prioritizes new token launches for HT stakers, similar to Binance Launchpad, providing early access opportunities for engaged platform participants. HTX's geographic focus on Asian markets (particularly Southeast Asia, Korea, and Southeast Asian communities globally) gives it strong local market positioning outside the Western regulatory perimeter. Compare with Binance, OKX, Gate.io, and KuCoin for similar CEX options. Use our crypto tools and DennTech blog for HTX updates.
HTX's copy trading feature mirrors professional trader positions for retail users who lack time or expertise for active portfolio management. HTX's lending and earn products (HTX Earn) support flexible, fixed, and structured yield products including principal-protected options structures for risk-averse users seeking yield without directional market risk. HTX's proof-of-reserves program publishes Merkle tree verification of user asset backing quarterly, addressing post-FTX concerns about exchange solvency. HTX's trading competitions with cash prize pools drive periodic engagement spikes from traders competing for top-ranked returns during competition periods.
HTX's advanced trading platform includes a full TradingView charting integration with technical analysis tools, drawing capabilities, and customizable indicator combinations used by professional traders. HTX's cloud mining products provide simplified access to crypto mining yield without hardware management — users purchase hash rate contracts and receive daily mining proceeds net of electricity costs. HTX's strategic focus on global regulatory compliance post-rebranding has included obtaining VASP registrations in multiple jurisdictions, addressing the regulatory uncertainty that drove user attrition during the Huobi-to-HTX transition period. The exchange's deep liquidity in Asian trading hours — when HTX's primary user base is active — provides favorable execution for traders whose strategies concentrate activity in Asian market sessions where HTX's order books are typically tighter than Western-centric exchanges.