TRM Labs Says HTX Rotated On-Chain Wallets Rapidly After UK Sanctions
HTX rebuilt key parts of its wallet infrastructure in the weeks after the U.K. sanctioned Huobi Global S.A., the entity identified as being behind the exchange, according to a Tuesday report from blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs. The firm said HTX remained online under the same brand while rapidly cycling deposit and hot wallets across TRON, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Solana, with individual funding addresses retired within hours and activity shifted to newly created wallets. TRM argued that the pattern makes static address-based screening ineffective because block lists tied to known HTX wallets can become outdated within hours. In its view, compliance efforts can only keep up if they identify the behavioral patterns behind the wallet changes rather than rely on fixed address sets alone. The report also said neither the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC nor the European Union has sanctioned HTX, meaning formal freeze obligations currently apply only to U.K.-regulated firms. HTX disputed the implication that the wallet activity was suspicious. A spokesperson told Decrypt that the behavior described in the report reflected routine security operations common across the industry and rejected any suggestion otherwise. The exchange has previously challenged the U.K. action and said the sanctioned Huobi Global S.A. is distinct from the online HTX exchange.
