HTX has suspended trading of WLFI and USD1 assets after the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) team unilaterally froze tokens on HTX-linked addresses, citing UK sanctions compliance. The exchange stated the freeze affects individual users' legally purchased assets, not sanctioned entities, and it has received no clear legal basis from WLFI. HTX halted WLFI/USDT, USD1/USDT, BTC/USD1, and ETH/USD1 pairs, converted all USD1 holdings to USDT at 1:1, and suspended USD1 deposits/withdrawals. The root cause traces to UK sanctions on Huobi Global S.A. (HTX's Panama entity) on May 26, 2026, for alleged facilitation of $1.5 billion in Russian sanctions evasion. WLFI's token contract includes an admin-controlled blacklist/freeze function, previously used in 2025. This incident highlights the tension between regulatory compliance and user sovereignty in tokenized assets, as freeze functions common in stablecoins now affect retail holdings in a governance token. HTX demands restoration of access and will keep services suspended until the freeze is resolved.

Key facts

• HTX suspends WLFI/USDT, USD1/USDT, BTC/USD1, and ETH/USD1 trading after asset freeze.
• WLFI froze tokens on HTX-related addresses citing UK sanctions compliance review.
• UK sanctioned Huobi Global S.A. on May 26, 2026 for alleged Russian sanctions evasion.
• USD1 holdings auto-converted to USDT at 1:1; WLFI withdrawals pending freeze lift.
• Incident highlights conflict between regulatory compliance and user asset sovereignty.