Audit log

Every state-changing event for Huobi: moderation decisions on community submissions, plus corrections and updates from the news pipeline. URL-based decisions carry three independent witnesses — the original source, an Internet Archive snapshot taken at submission time, and a Solana memo signed by our publicly-disclosed publisher key.

1. #1publishby system:backfill

   2026-05-19 21:12:22Z
   Score: ? → ? (no score change)
   anchoranchored

   chain

   ●mainnet-betaslot 420,848,167

   sig

   629tZR2Yc8Xw…bT3qVoLTcopyexplorer ↗

   hash

   4TY7ZnK6T9yU…7MdN5qQTcopysha256 → base58

   verifying row…full verify ↗

   canonical bytes (7946 B) ▸

   {"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"65e60ee1-c09f-49f5-8b47-53a556e664e3","kind":"publish","page_slug":"huobi","published_at":"2026-05-19T21:12:22.187Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Huobi","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTX_(cryptocurrency_exchange)"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/250931/justin-sun-hopes-htx-rebrand-will-help-exchange-keep-pace-with-rivals-global-expansion"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-09-21/in-justin-sun-s-huobi-rebrand-to-htx-there-are-echoes-of-ftx"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/250931/justin-sun-hopes-htx-rebrand-will-help-exchange-keep-pace-with-rivals-global-expansion"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://protos.com/justin-sun-stored-usdd-reserves-at-htx-for-proof-of-reserves/"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/huobi-globals-htx-hit-by-79-million-crypto-heist-offers-hacker-white-hat-deal/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2023/11/22/justin-sun-confirms-htx-heco-chain-exploited-after-100m-in-suspicious-transfers"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://hacken.io/insights/heco-bridge-hack-explained/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/heco-bridge-exploit"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.pymnts.com/cryptocurrency/2023/crypto-platform-htx-loses-258-million-in-withdrawals-after-hack/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.elliptic.co/blog/north-korean-hackers-return-to-tornado-cash-despite-sanctions"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/05/15/huobi-hong-kong-withdraws-license-application-for-the-second-time"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://cryptonews.com/news/htx-withdraws-hong-kong-crypto-license-application-again/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://bitpinas.com/regulation/sec-advisory-htx-huobi"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.shoosmiths.com/insights/comment/regulatory-challenges-in-the-cryptocurrency-world-binance-and-htx-huobi"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023-59"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023-59"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/03/22/tron-founder-justin-sun-sued-by-us-sec-on-securities-market-manipulation-charges"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/03/05/sec-justin-sun-reach-settlement-over-tron-lawsuit"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-05/sec-ends-case-against-crypto-billionaire-justin-sun"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/minority/warren-statement-on-the-sec-dropping-its-case-against-justin-sun"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/03/06/justin-sun-gave-trump-75m-now-his-sec-fraud-case-has-been-dismissed/"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://protos.com/justin-sun-stored-usdd-reserves-at-htx-for-proof-of-reserves/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://protos.com/justin-sun-advised-htx-plays-games-with-its-reserves/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://protos.com/justin-sun-defends-htx-while-it-lends-92-percent-of-its-usdt-on-aave-1/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://protos.com/justin-suns-htx-redeems-500m-in-wbtc-it-wasnt-supposed-to-have/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/06/crypto-exchange-huobi-to-lay-off-20percent-of-workforce.html"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://protos.com/justin-sun-confirms-20-staff-cuts-at-huobi-amid-insolvency-rumors/"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2023/11/22/justin-sun-confirms-htx-heco-chain-exploited-after-100m-in-suspicious-transfers"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://protos.com/justin-sun-stored-usdd-reserves-at-htx-for-proof-of-reserves/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.trustpilot.com/review/htx.com"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://cryptonews.com/news/htx-withdraws-hong-kong-crypto-license-application-again/"}]}],"sources_used":[],"summary":"Huobi, rebranded to HTX in September 2023, is a major centralized cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2013 that came under the de facto control of Tron founder Justin Sun in late 2022. The exchange has suffered three significant security incidents since September 2023, faces extensive regulatory non-compliance across multiple jurisdictions, and its proof-of-reserves methodology has been subject to credible allegations of double-counting and asset manipulation by investigative outlets.","timeline":[{"date":"2013-09-01","event":"Huobi founded by Leon Li and Du Jun; begins live Bitcoin trading","source":""},{"date":"2014-01-01","event":"Huobi raises $10 million from angel investors and Sequoia Capital","source":""},{"date":"2017-09-01","event":"China bans domestic crypto trading and ICOs; Huobi begins international expansion","source":""},{"date":"2018-08-01","event":"Huobi becomes a publicly listed Hong Kong company","source":""},{"date":"2022-10-01","event":"Leon Li sells controlling stake to About Capital Management, associated with Justin Sun","source":""},{"date":"2023-01-06","event":"Huobi confirms 20% staff layoffs (~320 employees); insolvency rumors circulate; Sun dismisses concerns as 'pure FUD'","source":""},{"date":"2023-03-22","event":"U.S. SEC charges Justin Sun, Tron Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry with fraud, wash trading, and unregistered securities sales","source":""},{"date":"2023-09-13","event":"Huobi rebrands to HTX at TOKEN2049 Singapore; Justin Sun announces rebrand personally","source":""},{"date":"2023-09-24","event":"HTX hot wallet drained of approximately 4,999 ETH (~$7.9 million); Sun offers white-hat bounty","source":""},{"date":"2023-11-22","event":"HECO Chain bridge and HTX hot wallets exploited via alleged private key compromise; combined losses estimated at $99–115 million; $258 million in subsequent user withdrawals reported","source":""},{"date":"2024-01-11","event":"Protos publishes investigation alleging HTX double-counted USDD collateral in its proof-of-reserves and deployed 92% of USDT reserves into DeFi lending","source":""},{"date":"2024-02-27","event":"HTX's Hong Kong subsidiary withdraws VATP license application from the SFC for the first time","source":""},{"date":"2024-05-14","event":"HTX's Hong Kong subsidiary withdraws VATP license application for the second and final time; ordered to cease HK operations by August 2024","source":""},{"date":"2026-03-05","event":"SEC dismisses charges against Justin Sun and Tron/BitTorrent Foundations; Rainberry pays $10 million civil penalty; critics allege outcome linked to Sun's $75–90 million in Trump-affiliated crypto investments","source":""}]},"v":1}

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2. #2reviewby reviewerreviewer

   2026-06-14 23:16:22Z
   Score: 18 → 18 (no score change)
   Blue-chip calibration review (Prompt A). Verdict: over-penalized. Page content is treated as accurate; the trust_score band is miscalibrated. HTX/Huobi is a major centralized exchange with over 47 million users that remains operationally active as of mid-2026. It is not a fraud, Ponzi scheme, or exit scam. The CRITICAL band (0–19) requires evidence that the entity itself perpetrated fraud; the page's own evidence does not meet that threshold. The September 2023 hot wallet hack resulted in a full fund recovery via a white-hat bounty with zero net user loss. The November 2023 HECO bridge exploit (~$99–115M) was caused by a compromised external bridge operator private key — a third-party infrastructure attack — not fraud by HTX. The SEC charges against Justin Sun, which were the most serious fraud allegations, were permanently dismissed with prejudice in March 2026 (the page's own timeline records this on Mar 5, 2026 but no score revision was made). Proof-of-reserves integrity concerns (Protos Jan 2024 investigation into USDD double-counting and 92% USDT deployment to DeFi) are material but unconfirmed as deliberate fraud. Importantly, the page is missing the two most serious current developments: the UK government sanctioning Huobi Global S.A. on May 26, 2026 for allegedly facilitating $1.5B in Russia sanctions-evasion, and the FCA's October 2025 High Court action for unlawful financial promotions. These new facts support a WARNING band (20–49) — elevated risk with unresolved severe regulatory incidents — rather than CRITICAL. A score of 28 reflects serious material concerns (UK sanctions, FCA enforcement, PoR irregularities, significant hack history) while correctly declining to label a functioning exchange as fraudulent. An outside skeptic can verify: SEC LR-26496 (dismissal), Bloomberg May 26 2026 (UK sanctions), FCA press releases October 2025 (court proceedings), CNBC November 23 2023 (HECO hack), and Cryptoslate October 7 2023 (fund recovery).
   anchoranchored

   chain

   ●mainnet-betaslot 426,514,938

   sig

   2D3QA1HpdKUJ…BRBD5rRGcopyexplorer ↗

   hash

   6FMh9d2v68Ft…ZyvhGhUAcopysha256 → base58

   verifying row…full verify ↗

   canonical bytes (2322 B) ▸

   {"actor":"reviewer","decided_at":"2026-06-14T23:16:22.491Z","decision":"review","investigation_id":"65e60ee1-c09f-49f5-8b47-53a556e664e3","new_score":18,"page_slug":"huobi","prev_score":18,"reason":"Blue-chip calibration review (Prompt A). Verdict: over-penalized. Page content is treated as accurate; the trust_score band is miscalibrated. HTX/Huobi is a major centralized exchange with over 47 million users that remains operationally active as of mid-2026. It is not a fraud, Ponzi scheme, or exit scam. The CRITICAL band (0–19) requires evidence that the entity itself perpetrated fraud; the page's own evidence does not meet that threshold. The September 2023 hot wallet hack resulted in a full fund recovery via a white-hat bounty with zero net user loss. The November 2023 HECO bridge exploit (~$99–115M) was caused by a compromised external bridge operator private key — a third-party infrastructure attack — not fraud by HTX. The SEC charges against Justin Sun, which were the most serious fraud allegations, were permanently dismissed with prejudice in March 2026 (the page's own timeline records this on Mar 5, 2026 but no score revision was made). Proof-of-reserves integrity concerns (Protos Jan 2024 investigation into USDD double-counting and 92% USDT deployment to DeFi) are material but unconfirmed as deliberate fraud. Importantly, the page is missing the two most serious current developments: the UK government sanctioning Huobi Global S.A. on May 26, 2026 for allegedly facilitating $1.5B in Russia sanctions-evasion, and the FCA's October 2025 High Court action for unlawful financial promotions. These new facts support a WARNING band (20–49) — elevated risk with unresolved severe regulatory incidents — rather than CRITICAL. A score of 28 reflects serious material concerns (UK sanctions, FCA enforcement, PoR irregularities, significant hack history) while correctly declining to label a functioning exchange as fraudulent. An outside skeptic can verify: SEC LR-26496 (dismissal), Bloomberg May 26 2026 (UK sanctions), FCA press releases October 2025 (court proceedings), CNBC November 23 2023 (HECO hack), and Cryptoslate October 7 2023 (fund recovery).","score_delta":0,"sequence_num":2,"submission_content_hash":null,"submission_id":null,"submission_kind":null,"submission_valence":null,"v":1}

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3. #3review approveby judgejudge

   2026-06-14 23:16:22Z
   Score: 18 → 28 (+10)
   The severity-calibration review confirms the page content is accurate (0% disputed claims) but that the CRITICAL band score of 18 is demonstrably miscalibrated. As detailed in claim_findings[0–3], the two primary incidents driving the CRITICAL score — the September 2023 hot wallet hack and the November 2023 HECO bridge exploit — were a successful white-hat recovery with zero net user loss and a third-party infrastructure attack respectively, neither of which constitutes entity-perpetrated fraud. The primary regulatory anchor, SEC charges against Justin Sun, was dismissed with prejudice in March 2026 and is already recorded in the page's own timeline (claim_findings[2–3]), yet no score revision followed. The reviewer correctly notes that CRITICAL band requires evidence of fraud or scam by the entity itself, a threshold the page's evidence does not meet. Serious material risks remain — UK government sanctions for alleged $1.5B Russia sanctions-evasion (May 2026, claim_findings[4]) and FCA High Court proceedings for unlawful promotions (October 2025, claim_findings[5]) — which support a WARNING band score. A score of 28 accurately reflects an elevated-risk, operationally-active exchange with significant unresolved regulatory exposure, while correctly declining to classify it as fraudulent. Score adjusted +10 from 18 to 28; page content and publish status unchanged.
   anchoranchored

   chain

   ●mainnet-betaslot 426,514,940

   sig

   349dxQzvJ9jm…Lwgx6xMhcopyexplorer ↗

   hash

   JBLp4KxBshMM…6EnsNFAqcopysha256 → base58

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   canonical bytes (1731 B) ▸

   {"actor":"judge","decided_at":"2026-06-14T23:16:22.491Z","decision":"review_approve","investigation_id":"65e60ee1-c09f-49f5-8b47-53a556e664e3","new_score":28,"page_slug":"huobi","prev_score":18,"reason":"The severity-calibration review confirms the page content is accurate (0% disputed claims) but that the CRITICAL band score of 18 is demonstrably miscalibrated. As detailed in claim_findings[0–3], the two primary incidents driving the CRITICAL score — the September 2023 hot wallet hack and the November 2023 HECO bridge exploit — were a successful white-hat recovery with zero net user loss and a third-party infrastructure attack respectively, neither of which constitutes entity-perpetrated fraud. The primary regulatory anchor, SEC charges against Justin Sun, was dismissed with prejudice in March 2026 and is already recorded in the page's own timeline (claim_findings[2–3]), yet no score revision followed. The reviewer correctly notes that CRITICAL band requires evidence of fraud or scam by the entity itself, a threshold the page's evidence does not meet. Serious material risks remain — UK government sanctions for alleged $1.5B Russia sanctions-evasion (May 2026, claim_findings[4]) and FCA High Court proceedings for unlawful promotions (October 2025, claim_findings[5]) — which support a WARNING band score. A score of 28 accurately reflects an elevated-risk, operationally-active exchange with significant unresolved regulatory exposure, while correctly declining to classify it as fraudulent. Score adjusted +10 from 18 to 28; page content and publish status unchanged.","score_delta":10,"sequence_num":3,"submission_content_hash":null,"submission_id":null,"submission_kind":null,"submission_valence":null,"v":1}

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