— Contents 10 sections
- 01 Is the HTX referral code “9vqme223” still active?
- 02 What the HTX referral code “9vqme223” gets you
- 03 HTX sign-up steps with the referral code
- 04 What to do after signing up at HTX
- 05 The HTX referral code cannot be added after sign-up
- 06 What is HTX
- 07 What makes HTX distinct
- 08 HTX regulatory landscape
- 09 HTX availability across major jurisdictions
- 10 Risks to acknowledge before using HTX
chainhelm’s exclusive HTX referral code is .
As of 2026-07-18, we signed up as a new user and confirmed that the referral code was applied.
Enter the code at sign-up to receive a new-user bonus of up to 2,700 USD equivalent. The referral code can only be entered at sign-up — it cannot be added afterwards, so we recommend applying it during registration.
This article covers the sign-up process with the HTX referral code, HTX’s distinguishing features, availability across major markets, and the risks to acknowledge — with the sign-up flow and code application verified first-hand by chainhelm’s editorial team.
Is the HTX referral code “9vqme223” still active?
The chainhelm editorial team created a fresh HTX account on 2026-07-18 and confirmed that the referral code “9vqme223” is still active.
Here is the actual screen captured during verification.
The screen shows “Congrats!” and “You’ve been linked to invitation code 9vqme223.”, confirming that the referral code 9vqme223 was correctly applied.
chainhelm continuously verifies the validity of the code and confirms it remains usable.
What the HTX referral code “9vqme223” gets you
Apply this code at sign-up to receive the following benefits on HTX:
- Benefit: a new-user bonus of up to 2,700 USD equivalent
- Expiration: None
- Eligibility: New users
The referral code is only applied during account creation. If you forget to enter it, you won’t receive the benefits — please make sure to apply it at sign-up.
HTX sign-up steps with the referral code
We cover the sign-up process separately for PC/browser and smartphone (mobile).
PC/browser sign-up steps
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First, open the HTX official sign-up page (the link applies the referral code). When you open it, you’ll see a screen like the one below.
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Open the sign-up form from the invite link
Follow the invitation link to reach HTX’s sign-up form, then enter your email address or phone number in the field labeled “Email Address Or Phone Number”. The header notes a 1,500 USDT welcome bonus for new users, but nothing here is required beyond your contact detail.
The button below the field reads “Next” on desktop and “Sign Up” on mobile; either one carries you forward. If you would rather not use email, the “Others” row lets you register with “Google” or “Telegram” instead. Continuing means you agree to the “User Agreement” and “Privacy Policy”.
- Enter your email address
Type your email address (or phone number) into the “Email Address Or Phone Number” field. HTX shows the value filled in and keeps the “Next” button active, with a small clear icon on the right in case you need to correct it.
Once the address looks right, open the “Referral Code (Optional)” section just below the field to check the invite code before you submit.
- Check the pre-filled referral code
Open the “Referral Code (Optional)” section. HTX has already filled in the code “9vqme223”, carried over from the invitation link, so there is nothing for you to type — just confirm the code is present.
With the code in place, submit the form using “Next” on desktop, or “Sign Up” on mobile. A verification challenge appears next.
- Clear the verification challenge
A challenge opens to confirm you are a real person, and it differs by device. On desktop, follow the “Select in this order” prompt by clicking the images in the sequence shown, then press “OK”.
On mobile, drag the slider across to “Slide to complete the puzzle”. Clearing the challenge sends a verification code to your email and moves you on to the code-entry screen.
- Enter the email verification code
HTX sends a code to your email and shows six empty boxes under “Enter the verification code”. Open your inbox, then type the code into the boxes.
If it has not arrived, check your spam folder, since the message can be filtered there. The “Resend” link becomes available once the countdown finishes. Entering the correct code takes you to the password setup screen.
- Find the code in your inbox
Switch to your email inbox and open the message titled “【HTX】Confirm Your Registration”. Below “Welcome to HTX.” and “Your code is”, you will find the six-digit registration code.
The code expires in 30 minutes, so read it and enter it back on the code screen promptly.
- Set your account password
On the “Password” screen, create a password to secure your account and type it into the field. A checklist tracks the rules as you go: “At least 8 characters”, and at least two of numbers, letters, or special characters.
Until both rules are met, the “Begin Your HTX Journey” button stays grayed out, so keep adjusting the password until each item is satisfied.
- Confirm the password and continue
As your password meets the rules, both checklist items turn green and the “Begin Your HTX Journey” button turns blue and active, while the field keeps the entry masked.
Click “Begin Your HTX Journey” to finish creating the account.
- Sign-up complete
The confirmation screen greets you with “Congrats!” and confirms “You’ve been linked to invitation code 9vqme223.”, so the referral is now tied to your account. It also notes a 200 USDT signup reward and offers a “Download App” button if you want to continue on mobile.
Your HTX account now exists. From here, the next thing to do is verify your identity.
Smartphone (iOS / Android) sign-up steps
-
First, open the HTX official sign-up page in the mobile app or browser (the link applies the referral code). When you open it, you’ll see a screen like the one below.
-
Open the sign-up form from the invite link
Follow the invitation link to reach HTX’s sign-up form, then enter your email address or phone number in the field labeled “Email Address Or Phone Number”. The header notes a 1,500 USDT welcome bonus for new users, but nothing here is required beyond your contact detail.
The button below the field reads “Next” on desktop and “Sign Up” on mobile; either one carries you forward. If you would rather not use email, the “Others” row lets you register with “Google” or “Telegram” instead. Continuing means you agree to the “User Agreement” and “Privacy Policy”.
- Enter your email address
Type your email address (or phone number) into the “Email Address Or Phone Number” field. HTX shows the value filled in and keeps the “Next” button active, with a small clear icon on the right in case you need to correct it.
Once the address looks right, open the “Referral Code (Optional)” section just below the field to check the invite code before you submit.
- Check the pre-filled referral code
Open the “Referral Code (Optional)” section. HTX has already filled in the code “9vqme223”, carried over from the invitation link, so there is nothing for you to type — just confirm the code is present.
With the code in place, submit the form using “Next” on desktop, or “Sign Up” on mobile. A verification challenge appears next.
- Clear the verification challenge
A challenge opens to confirm you are a real person, and it differs by device. On desktop, follow the “Select in this order” prompt by clicking the images in the sequence shown, then press “OK”.
On mobile, drag the slider across to “Slide to complete the puzzle”. Clearing the challenge sends a verification code to your email and moves you on to the code-entry screen.
- Enter the email verification code
HTX sends a code to your email and shows six empty boxes under “Enter the verification code”. Open your inbox, then type the code into the boxes.
If it has not arrived, check your spam folder, since the message can be filtered there. The “Resend” link becomes available once the countdown finishes. Entering the correct code takes you to the password setup screen.
- Find the code in your inbox
Switch to your email inbox and open the message titled “【HTX】Confirm Your Registration”. Below “Welcome to HTX.” and “Your code is”, you will find the six-digit registration code.
The code expires in 30 minutes, so read it and enter it back on the code screen promptly.
- Set your account password
On the “Password” screen, create a password to secure your account and type it into the field. A checklist tracks the rules as you go: “At least 8 characters”, and at least two of numbers, letters, or special characters.
Until both rules are met, the “Begin Your HTX Journey” button stays grayed out, so keep adjusting the password until each item is satisfied.
- Confirm the password and continue
As your password meets the rules, both checklist items turn green and the “Begin Your HTX Journey” button turns blue and active, while the field keeps the entry masked.
Click “Begin Your HTX Journey” to finish creating the account.
- Sign-up complete
The confirmation screen greets you with “Congrats!” and confirms “You’ve been linked to invitation code 9vqme223.”, so the referral is now tied to your account. It also notes a 200 USDT signup reward and offers a “Download App” button if you want to continue on mobile.
Your HTX account now exists. From here, the next thing to do is verify your identity.
What to do after signing up at HTX
We cover identity verification separately for PC/browser and smartphone (mobile).
PC/browser identity verification
In the user center, HTX asks which account type you want to verify. Pick “Personal Verification” to trade as an individual, or “Institutional Verification” to trade as an enterprise, then click “Verify Now” on the matching card.
Choose carefully: HTX does not support holding both types, so the account type cannot be swapped later. Selecting personal opens the personal verification status page.
The personal verification page opens marked “Unverified”, with the identity fields — Country/Region, Birthday, ID type, and ID No. — still blank and the “Withdrawal limit/24H” shown as 5BTC.
Verification is split into levels. Click “Verify Now” beside “L1 Basic Permissions” to begin; “L2 Basic Verification” stays locked until the first level is done. This opens the ID verification form.
The “ID Verification” form asks for your basic details. Choose your “Nationality” from the dropdown, then enter your “Last name” and “First Name” exactly as they appear on your ID, and set your “Birthday”.
When every field is filled, click “Submit”. HTX then continues the verification with further steps that follow this form.
Smartphone (iOS / Android) identity verification
In the user center, HTX asks which account type you want to verify. Pick “Personal Verification” to trade as an individual, or “Institutional Verification” to trade as an enterprise, then click “Verify Now” on the matching card.
Choose carefully: HTX does not support holding both types, so the account type cannot be swapped later. Selecting personal opens the personal verification status page.
The personal verification page opens marked “Unverified”, with the identity fields — Country/Region, Birthday, ID type, and ID No. — still blank and the “Withdrawal limit/24H” shown as 5BTC.
Verification is split into levels. Click “Verify Now” beside “L1 Basic Permissions” to begin; “L2 Basic Verification” stays locked until the first level is done. This opens the ID verification form.
The “ID Verification” form asks for your basic details. Choose your “Nationality” from the dropdown, then enter your “Last name” and “First Name” exactly as they appear on your ID, and set your “Birthday”.
When every field is filled, click “Submit”. HTX then continues the verification with further steps that follow this form.
Once your basic information is submitted, HTX carries the verification forward through the remaining steps it shows on screen.
The HTX referral code cannot be added after sign-up
The referral code can only be entered at sign-up — it cannot be added afterwards.
If you complete account registration without entering the referral code, it cannot be linked to that account afterwards — so double-check the field before you finish sign-up.
If you have not yet completed KYC (identity verification), creating a fresh account is still an option.
- Is 9vqme223 displayed in the referral code field?
- Re-check the referral code field before completing account creation
What is HTX
HTX is one of the oldest names in crypto still trading at real scale, but its story is as much about who controls it as about what it lists.
HTX’s origins, ownership and trading scale
Founded in China in 2013 as Huobi by Leon Li, the exchange moved offshore after China’s 2017 crackdown and is now publicly registered in Seychelles. Since 2022, Justin Sun has been its de facto owner through a purchase by About Capital Management, holding the public title of “Global Advisor” rather than a named controlling stake — and no formal ultimate-beneficial-owner disclosure has been published. That control profile is worth registering up front, because it shapes several of the risks in the final chapter.
The product surface is broad: spot across roughly 572 to 700 listed coins, USDT- and coin-margined futures, options including TRX American Options, margin, a “TradFi” derivative zone spanning gold, silver, crude oil and US stocks and indices, Earn products, the non-custodial HTX Wallet, plus copy trading and bots. Its centralized NFT marketplace was discontinued in 2023.
Where HTX sits in the pecking order depends on who is counting.
The two spot rankings diverge sharply — CoinMarketCap’s volume-sorted view places HTX in the global top ten, while CoinGecko’s trust-weighted method puts it far lower — because the two methods weight liquidity quality differently. Its derivatives business ranks higher on both counts, at CoinMarketCap #9 and CoinGecko #16. Treat all of these as orders of magnitude rather than precise figures: CoinGecko once logged a 317% spot-volume spike that it flagged as anomalous, which is exactly why we lean on the more conservative, dual-sourced numbers above.
Trading fees and the HT native-token discount
A headline fee rate is only part of the real cost — withdrawal and network fees sit on top of it, and they vary by asset.
- Spot (standard)
- 0.20% maker and 0.20% taker (HTX-official)
- Futures (standard)
- 0.02% maker / 0.05% taker (secondary-sourced; re-verify in-app)
HTX’s own token, HT, drives the discount: by holding HT you can step the 0.20% spot base down by as much as roughly 65% under HTX’s tiered schedule, though some secondary sources cite a smaller cut of around 25% when fees are simply paid in HT. Because these tiers move over time, treat the headline as a dated snapshot — as of 11 July 2026 — and check the live in-app schedule before you rely on any specific number.
What makes HTX distinct
If HTX’s ownership is its main liability, its custody discipline is its main selling point.
Proof-of-reserves cadence, security reserve and TradFi / TRON reach
For 38 straight months — through December 2025 — HTX has published a monthly Merkle-tree proof of reserves, and in 2025 it layered a zero-knowledge proof on top. The differentiator is not that it has proof of reserves, which many venues now do, but the length and regularity of that cadence.
Every core asset is backed at or above 100%, which is the bar that matters most for a reader deciding whether balances are actually there.
A dedicated 20,000 BTC Security Reserve sits at an independent, platform-owned address — a cushion held on top of customer balances.HTX Security Reserve
Beyond the reserve, an Investor and User Protection Fund has been financed since January 2018 by roughly 20% of income routed into HT buybacks. On the product side, the “TradFi” derivative zone — gold, silver, crude oil, US stocks and indices, with more than 22 assets added in the first quarter of 2026 — and deep TRON integration through TRX, the stUSDT yield product and TRX American Options give HTX reach that few peers match, while HT itself doubles as a fee-discount token and a governance token in HTX DAO. The TRON tie-in cuts both ways, though: the same integration that widens HTX’s reach also concentrates it around one ecosystem and one controlling principal — a theme the risk chapter returns to.
When a locally licensed venue is the better choice
For those readers a locally licensed venue is a requirement, not a preference. Even where HTX is reachable, anyone who weighs regulatory protection and low counterparty or sanctions risk heavily is better served elsewhere, given HTX’s UK sanctions designation, its active FCA enforcement, and a public licensing footprint that has thinned to little more than a Pakistan registration and a South American payments license.
Which venue actually competes for your account depends on where you are — the real alternatives are the locally regulated exchanges we map market by market in the next chapter. We keep that comparison relative and market-specific rather than turning it into a league table: the point is the trade-off you personally face, not a global ranking.
HTX regulatory landscape
Read as a map, HTX’s regulatory standing has far more red on it than green.
HTX’s licensing footprint and excluded markets
On its own Global Licensed Businesses page, as of 11 July 2026, HTX lists just two credentials: a Pakistan PVARA No-Objection Certificate and a South American “payment and remittance services” registration. Licenses it was once associated with — Dubai’s VARA, Lithuania, Australia’s AUSTRAC, Gibraltar, a US MSB, Huobi Japan — no longer appear.
What makes this consequential is the weight of the excluded column: these are among the largest markets in the world, not a fringe. Against a list like that, two live credentials is a thin book. The names that occasionally surface as evidence of local licensing — BitTrade (the former Huobi Japan), Huobi Korea, Huobi Thailand, Huobi Hong Kong, HBUS and Huobi Australia — are all divested or discontinued; they are license-attribution footnotes, not HTX’s own permissions, and none is a venue we route readers to.
Market exits, the tightening trajectory and where Australia sits
The direction of travel matters as much as the current map.
The United States is a cleaner break still: HTX left the retail market with no re-entry pathway. Put the moves together and the trajectory in major Western markets is unmistakably tightening, with the Pakistan certificate the lone offset. For most readers the practical implication is not about any single country but about direction — an exchange that has walled off this many markets can wall off another.
Australia is a useful contrast. It is not on HTX’s excluded list and sits outside the product-level derivatives blocks, so HTX is reachable for Australian readers; the former local Huobi Australia office wound down in 2019 and folded into the global platform. Reachable is not the same as reassuring, though — Australian users weigh the same shrunken-footprint and sanctions context as everyone else.
HTX availability across major jurisdictions
HTX’s availability is not uniform: some major markets are open, others are closed by the exchange or by local regulators. Where a reader’s market is closed, chainhelm routes to locally licensed venues rather than the referral path — the reader-optimal route comes first.
United States: HTX is closed to US residents
HTX bars US persons at the User Agreement level, and there has been no US retail service since HBUS wound down in 2020, so a sign-up from the United States simply cannot proceed. The FinCEN MSB registration that still exists is an anti-money-laundering registration, not retail authorization — it does not reopen the door. US readers need a locally regulated venue, and the curated options below are all US-regulated and open to residents.
Coinbase
Kraken
Crypto.com
Gemini
Singapore: HTX withdrew under the MAS regime
HTX withdrew from Singapore in 2021 under the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s licensing regime and keeps the country on its restricted list, so new sign-ups do not go through. A MAS-licensed or locally established venue is the workable route.
Coinhako
Independent Reserve
Crypto.com
United Kingdom: FCA warning, High Court action and UK sanctions
The FCA lists HTX on its Warning List and opened High Court proceedings in 2026 over illegal financial promotions, and in May 2026 the UK sanctioned the operating entity, Huobi Global S.A. Between the warning, the court action and the designation, UK access is effectively closed. FCA-registered venues are the compliant route.
Coinbase
Kraken
Crypto.com
India: apps and URLs blocked since January 2024
After an FIU-IND notice under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, India blocked HTX’s apps and URLs from January 2024, so new sign-ups from India do not go through. FIU-registered venues are the practical route — two India-domestic exchanges and two FIU-registered global majors.
CoinDCX
CoinSwitch
Binance
Bybit
Risks to acknowledge before using HTX
Every exchange carries risk; the ones worth naming here are the ones specific to HTX.
Concentrated control and self-published custody proof
Custody sits on the same fault line. HTX’s proof of reserves is self-published and user-verifiable through Merkle trees, but there is no named Big-Four attestation behind it, and the split between hot and cold wallets is undisclosed. None of that means funds are unsafe — the 20,000 BTC reserve, the protection fund and the monthly, at-least-100% core-asset backing are real and neutral mitigants — but it does mean you are trusting HTX’s own disclosures rather than an independent audit.
Fund-access history: the 2023 breaches and the confidence event
The clearest test of an exchange is whether you can get your money out. HTX’s record here is mixed but, so far, recoverable.
Two of these were genuine security failures and one was a confidence scare, but in each case funds were ultimately returned or compensated. The signal for a user is not that HTX is uniquely unsafe — it is that fund access has been interrupted before, and that when it was, you were relying on the platform’s word and follow-through rather than a guarantee.
Sanctions designation and market-exit exposure
That designation is the sharp edge of a broader exposure. The FCA is pursuing HTX through the High Court over illegal financial promotions, the licensing footprint has thinned, and the exchange has already left the US, the EU, the UK and Singapore — a track record that raises the odds of a future access withdrawal wherever you sit. One overhang did lift: the SEC’s case touching HTX and Tron settled in March 2026 with no admission of wrongdoing. On balance, though, the regulatory vector points toward more constraint, not less, and that is the risk to weigh before you fund an account.
