UK Regulator Sues Crypto Exchange HTX for Unlawful Promotion of Digital Assets

The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it is suing cryptocurrency exchange HTX for unlawfully promoting digital asset services in the country.

The FCA commenced legal proceedings against the exchange formerly known as Huobi in the High Court, London, according to an emailed statement on Thursday.

The financial regulator previously issued warnings going back to 2023 that the exchange, which was bought by Tron founder Justin Sun in 2022, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, may be promoting financial services without its permission. Sun was not mentioned in the statement.

At the time, the FCA said that consumers should avoid dealing with Huobi as it was unauthorized to promote financial services in the U.K.

“This action is part of our commitment to protect consumers and uphold the integrity of U.K. financial markets,” an FCA spokesperson said in the statement. “We have seen crypto firms react positively to our financial promotions rules and regulation, however where we still see poor practices we will not hesitate to take action where firms appear to be breaching our rules.”

HTX did not respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.