The cryptocurrency exchange HTX demonstrated impressive results for the first half of 2026, recording a total spot and futures trading volume of $870.9 billion. The number of registered platform users reached 59.49 million. These figures confirm steady growth and high activity on the platform, despite market volatility.
Analyzing the data, HTX repeatedly led in daily and weekly net capital inflows among all centralized exchanges, indicating high trust from institutional and retail investors. Additionally, the exchange received prestigious awards — "Best P2P Platform of the Year" and "Best Venture Web3 Organization of the Year" for its HTX Ventures division.
Listings and Spot Trading: Focus on Early Placements
Over six months, HTX added 58 new assets, covering sectors such as memecoins, artificial intelligence (AI), RWA, BTCFi, and stablecoins. The ELSA token deserves special attention, surging by 620% at its peak. The exchange made a strategic bet on early listings: after its debut, the Billions Network (BILL) token rose by 141%, and its market capitalization exceeded $2 billion. RWA projects BTW and RE grew by 388% and 145% respectively, while the AI project OpenGradient (OPG) increased by 118%. Simultaneously, HTX is conducting a listing cleanup, removing 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 pairs. The exchange also launched a campaign with predictions for the FIFA 2026 World Cup matches, attracting additional interest.
Futures and TradFi: Innovations in Derivatives
Futures trading volume approached $500 billion, with the number of trading pairs exceeding 350. The TradFi sector generated over $1.5 billion across 129 instruments, including gold, oil, US stocks, and ETFs. In May, HTX was among the first to launch pre-IPO futures for SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic, marking a significant step in integrating traditional finance with crypto derivatives.
The futures infrastructure received an upgrade: enhanced capital efficiency in cross-margin mode, independent leverage for isolated positions, and AI recommendations for selecting lead traders. A sliding grid, which automatically adapts to market movements, is scheduled for launch in early July.
Earn and AI Tools: Attracting Capital
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 launched with yields of up to 9% annually. The updated SmartEarn showed a peak yield of 7.21% with an average of around 2.5%, and assets placed in it can be used as margin for futures trading.
The app opened 55% faster on iOS and 44% faster 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 and studies on crypto neobanks and RWA perps. Under the HTX DeepThink brand, 73 analytical articles were released. Over the half-year, the company organized 17 offline events with a focus on Southeast Asia and Turkey.
HTX DAO conducted two burns of HTX tokens, destroying and locking 110.32 trillion coins — over 11% of the total supply, with an annual deflation rate of about 5.5%.
Reserves and Regulation: Transparency as a Foundation
HTX has published reserve reports based on the Merkle tree for 45 consecutive months. As of July 1, 2026, ratios for BTC, ETH, TRX, and other assets exceeded 100%, confirming the 1:1 reserve principle. The exchange continued licensing in Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan, and is aligning operations with the requirements of the VARA regulator in Dubai.
In the second half of the year, HTX plans to expand its available asset classes, product lines, and international presence. As an analyst, I note that this combination of innovations in derivatives, active listings, and a focus on regulation creates a solid foundation for further growth, especially amid tightening controls in global markets.