HTX Gives the High Court a Five-Year Pledge on UK Crypto Promotions as FCA Case Settles

Crypto exchange HTX, formerly Huobi, has given undertakings to the High Court that it will not knowingly promote crypto services to UK consumers in breach of UK law, the Financial Conduct Authority said Thursday. The pledges, made by Huobi Global S.A., the first defendant in the FCA’s claim, as part of a settlement with the regulator, apply until Oct. 21, 2031.

The settlement agreement is dated Oct. 16, the day HTX posted a notice saying UK accounts remain restricted, 11 days before the Oct. 27 court order that stayed the case. By Unchained’s count, the undertakings run roughly five years from the settlement and end exactly six years after the FCA filed its claim.

The order, made by consent before Deputy Master Holden, stays the lawsuit on the settlement’s terms and makes no award of costs. It contains no ruling on the FCA’s allegations. The settlement terms are confidential. The FCA said the settlement does not mean Huobi Global, or anyone else, admits liability or wrongdoing.

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The FCA began proceedings on Oct. 21, 2025, alleging HTX broke the UK’s financial promotion rules, and made the case public on Feb. 10, 2026. Steve Smart, then the FCA’s joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said at the time it was “the first time we’ve taken enforcement action against a crypto firm illegally marketing their products to UK consumers.”

According to the FCA, HTX no longer operates in the UK. UK customers cannot deposit, new UK users cannot open accounts, and the exchange will not target or solicit British consumers.

HTX’s Oct. 16 notice says it does not serve UK residents and that existing UK accounts, restricted under its “UK exit arrangements,” cannot deposit, trade or transact.

It also lets eligible individual users who still hold assets ask customer support for a one-time 48-hour withdrawal window, subject to approval, a personal remittances general licence and HTX’s own identity, sanctions, anti-money laundering and fraud checks.

“Crypto firms should be under no illusion: being based overseas does not put them beyond the reach of UK law,” Smart said in Thursday’s release. He added that the FCA’s action means “HTX is leaving the UK and can no longer target UK consumers.”

The UK designated Huobi Global S.A. on May 26 under its Russia sanctions regulations, and the EU later named HTX in its 21st Russia package, barring transactions with the exchange from Aug. 23, as Unchained reported. On Oct. 20, Kazakhstan’s AIFC regulator said it would send court injunctions against six platforms, including Coinbase and HTX, to Apple and Google to restrict access to the platforms’ services.

The FCA says crypto in the UK remains largely unregulated outside anti-money laundering and financial promotion rules until October 2027.

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