In the first half of 2026, the HTX cryptocurrency exchange demonstrated impressive momentum: the total volume of spot and futures trading exceeded $870.9 billion. The number of registered platform users reached 59.49 million. These figures confirm the steady growth of the ecosystem and a high level of trust from traders.
According to DeFiLlama data, HTX has repeatedly led the industry in daily and weekly net capital inflows. Additionally, the platform has received prestigious awards: the HTX P2P service was recognized as the "Best P2P Platform of the Year," and HTX Ventures as the "Best Web3 Venture Organization of the Year."
Listings and Spot Trading
Over six months, the exchange added 58 assets, covering sectors such as meme coins, AI, RWA, BTCFi, and stablecoins. The ELSA token stood out, showing a peak growth of 620%.
HTX's strategy emphasizes early listings. Following its debut listing, the Billions Network (BILL) token rose by 141%, with its market capitalization exceeding $2 billion. RWA projects BTW and RE gained 388% and 145% respectively, ZEST grew by 131%, and the AI project OpenGradient (OPG) rose by 118%.
In parallel, the company is delisting tokens with low liquidity and inactive teams.
On the spot market, over 420,000 users showed activity, with trading volume reaching $379 billion. Traders have access to 612 spot trading pairs. The exchange also launched a campaign with predictions for the FIFA 2026 World Cup matches and continued its series of trading competitions.
Futures and TradFi
Futures trading volume approached $500 billion, with the number of trading pairs exceeding 350. The traditional finance (TradFi) sector generated over $1.5 billion across 129 instruments, including gold, oil, base metals, natural gas, US stocks, and ETFs.
In May, HTX was among the first to launch pre-IPO futures for SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
The futures infrastructure received a significant upgrade: enhanced capital efficiency in cross-margin mode, independent leverage for isolated positions, auto-margin top-up, and AI recommendations for selecting lead traders. In early July, the platform planned to launch a moving grid that automatically adapts to market movements.
Earn and AI Tools
HTX Earn products attracted over 120,000 subscribers, with total subscription volume reaching $4.1 billion. Flexible offerings for USDT, USDC, and USDD yielded up to 10% annually, while 50 products for trending assets yielded up to 20%. For large investors, VIP Flexible became available, offering up to 9% annual yield in USDT.
The updated SmartEarn showed a peak yield of 7.21% with an average of around 2.5%. Assets placed in it can be used as margin for futures trading, and the USDD stablecoin yields a fixed 4%.
The app's launch speed improved by 55% on iOS and 44% on Android. The exchange also released the AI trading assistant HTX Holo, which interprets charts, summarizes news, and recommends suitable Earn products.
Ecosystem and Research
HTX Research and HTX Ventures published six reports, including an annual crypto industry review, studies on crypto-neobanks and RWA perps, as well as a Q3 forecast. Under the HTX DeepThink brand, 73 analytical articles and weekly market reviews were released.
Over the half-year, the company organized 17 offline events with a focus on Southeast Asia and Turkey.
HTX DAO conducted two HTX token burns on January 15 and April 15. The total volume of destroyed and locked coins reached 110.32 trillion — over 11% of the total supply, with an annual deflation rate of approximately 5.5%.
Reserves and Regulation
HTX has published Merkle tree-based reserve reports for 45 consecutive months. As of July 1, 2026, ratios for BTC, ETH, TRX, XRP, DOGE, SOL, stablecoins, and the HTX token exceeded 100%. The exchange adheres to the 1:1 reserve principle.
The platform continued licensing in Kyrgyzstan. In Pakistan, after receiving a No Objection Certificate from the PVARA regulator, the company began registering a legal entity and applying for a VASP license. HTX is also aligning its operations with VARA requirements.
In the second half of the year, HTX plans to expand its range of available assets, product lines, and international presence.
My view: HTX demonstrates steady growth and strategic flexibility, combining aggressive listing expansion with a focus on liquidity and regulatory compliance. Success in attracting capital and users, along with the implementation of AI tools, strengthens the exchange's position as a key market player. However, the key challenge will remain balancing innovation with adherence to increasingly stringent regulatory standards across various jurisdictions.