HTX acknowledged that the frozen belongings belong to authentic customers and never sanctioned entities.
Different platforms akin to Bybit, Bitget and OKX had already issued alerts about linked transactions.
HTX introduced this Saturday, June 6, 2026, that it suspended the WLFI/USDT, USD1/USDT, BTC/USD1 and ETH/USD1 buying and selling pairs. As well as, it stopped deposits and withdrawals of USD1 and reported that it could routinely convert all balances on this stablecoin of its customers to USDT. The measure responds to the unilateral freezing of on-chain addresses linked to the trade by World Liberty Monetary (WLFI), a mission linked to the Trump household.
In line with HTX, the freeze was imposed by WLFI citing compliance with sanctions. This motion follows the UK’s designation, on Could 26, 2026, in opposition to Huobi International SA, an entity associated to HTX, for alleged hyperlinks to Russian monetary actions. CriptoNoticias reported on Could 27 that different platforms akin to Bybit, Bitget and OKX had already issued alerts about transactions linked to HTX.
In its official assertion, HTX maintained that the frozen belongings belong to customers who acquired them legitimately and to not sanctioned entities. The trade criticized the dearth of clear info from WLFI on the scope of the affected addresses, the authorized foundation and the process to resolve the state of affairs. The conversion of USD1 to USDT was introduced as a protecting measure to keep away from dangers to customers whereas the restriction persists.
The case has reignited the talk over the ability of token and stablecoin issuers to unilaterally freeze funds, versus the precept that customers are authentic house owners of their belongings on the community.
Notably, HTX was the primary massive trade to checklist USD1, in Could 2025. Nonetheless, the suspension of buying and selling of WLFI and USD1 on HTX had a restricted impression on the general market liquidity, as a result of USD1 quantity is principally dominated by Binance, and WLFI quantity was already extra targeting OKX, Bitget and Bybit.
HTX argues that WLFI affected belongings of particular person customers with out transparency or due course of, whereas WLFI maintains that it’s appearing in compliance with regulatory obligations. WLFI’s hyperlink with the household of the president of the USDonald Trump, has elevated the visibility of the case, which additionally questions the boundaries of centralized management in initiatives and belongings which are introduced as “a part of the decentralized ecosystem.”
The end result of this dispute, and the way in which different platforms reply, might affect the transparency requirements required of stablecoin issuers with centralized management features.
