Justin Sun commented on Binance's blocking of HTX: the restrictions will only affect a portion of clients.
HTX founder Justin Sun has officially responded for the first time to the exchange being blacklisted by Binance. According to him, the imposed restrictions apply exclusively to users from the United Kingdom and the European Union, not to all clients of the platform. This statement came just a few hours after Binance published a notice, which, however, made no mention whatsoever of any geographical scope of the sanctions.
Sun emphasized that HTX does not conduct operational activities in the UK or the EU, and negotiations with local regulators are already in an active phase. He also promised that affected users will be able to contact HTX support, and the exchange will resolve their issues on an individual basis.
Discrepancies between statements and reality
Here a legitimate question arises: how much do Sun's words align with the actual state of affairs? In the official Binance notice, no specific country is singled out — the restrictions are addressed to all users without exception. Moreover, Binance warned that transactions with 11 "non-compliant" platforms, including HTX, may be frozen for compliance checks after the effective date of the rules.
Of particular interest is Sun's claim that HTX "does not operate" in the UK. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) paints a completely different picture: in 2023, the HTX website was visited 4.6 million times from the UK, placing the exchange sixth in traffic among crypto companies in the country. Registration of new British users was only closed after a lawsuit filed by the regulator.
Negotiations with British authorities are indeed confirmed — a moratorium is in effect in the High Court until August 25, and HTX is in dialogue with the FCA regarding illegal advertising. However, Sun did not specify which EU body consultations are being held with, leaving room for interpretation.
The timeline is extremely tight: Binance will cut off HTX on August 23 — two days before the moratorium in London expires. This creates additional pressure on the exchange ahead of the deadline.
My analysis: The situation looks like a classic example of divergence between public rhetoric and real regulatory risks. Sun's statement about the "geographical limitation" of the sanctions may be an attempt to minimize panic among users, but FCA data and Binance's wording point to a more systemic nature of the problem. Investors should closely monitor the development of negotiations with regulators — their outcome will determine not only HTX's accessibility for European clients but also the reputation of the entire TRON ecosystem.