HTX Exchange Surpasses Coinbase In Spot Trading Volumes

HTX (formerly Huobi) achieved a major milestone on May 27 by temporarily surpassing US-based Coinbase in daily spot trading volumes for the first time.

Justin Sun, the influential figure behind the TRON blockchain and one of the investors at HTX, shared the milestone on X. He said HTX traded $1.81 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in 24 hours, beating Coinbase’s $1.58 billion.

HTX Exchange Recorded $1.81B Spot Trading Volume

For the first time, @HTX_Global has more spot trading volume than @coinbase. This is just the beginning, and we are just getting started. 🫡 pic.twitter.com/VeYHFCviHy

— H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨 (@justinsuntron) May 27, 2024

According to recent CoinGecko data, Coinbase has taken back the top spot. In the past 24 hours, Coinbase processed a $2.2 billion trading volume, making it the third-largest crypto exchange globally, behind only Bybit and OKX. HTX traded around $2.1 billion, pushing the platform behind Coinbase.

It could be recalled that the HTX exchange, one of the world’s largest and oldest cryptocurrency exchanges, celebrated its 10-year anniversary in September 2023. To mark the milestone, the exchange rebranded from Huobi to HTX.

The rebranding was controversial, with many in the crypto community drawing parallels between HTX and the collapsed exchange FTX. This is with respect to the new name, “H”, which stands for Huobi; “T” represents Sun’s blockchain project Tron; and “X” signifies the exchange.

HTX Exchange Latest Milestone Linked to Coinbase Legal Challenges

The temporary decline in Coinbase spot trading volume came amid the exchange’s legal battle in the United States.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Coinbase, accusing the exchange of offering unregistered securities. The SEC’s lawsuit claims that Coinbase failed to register as a broker, national securities exchange, or clearing agency, thereby circumventing the regulatory disclosure requirements designed to protect securities markets.

Today we charged Coinbase, Inc. with operating its crypto asset trading platform as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency and for failing to register the offer and sale of its crypto asset staking-as-a-service program.https://t.co/XPG2gDkxtV pic.twitter.com/hCdVMw8B2v

— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) June 6, 2023

Coinbase has since been defending its business practices in court. But, the legal battle reached a critical juncture in March 2024 when a U.S. court denied Coinbase’s motion to dismiss the SEC’s case. The ruling permitted the SEC to continue pursuing its allegations that Coinbase operates an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing agency.

Coinbase took a strategic legal step by filing a memorandum in support of its interlocutory appeal in May 2024, however. The appeal seeks to overturn the court’s earlier decision and potentially mitigate some of the company’s legal pressures.

Earlier in the month, the exchange’s legal woes further deepened as Coinbase customers filed a lawsuit against two of the company’s subsidiaries for repeatedly breaking securities law since the inception of Coinbase.