TRM Labs Finds HTX Rotated Hot Wallets Hours After U.K. Sanctions on Huobi Global

TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics firm, said July 21 that crypto exchange HTX has been rotating hot wallets and funding addresses every few hours across four major blockchains since the U.K. sanctioned the exchange’s legal entity in May, a pattern TRM said can undermine sanctions checks that rely on static wallet lists.

The claim centers on Huobi Global S.A., the legal entity behind the HTX brand. The U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and its Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added Huobi Global S.A. to the U.K. sanctions list on May 26, 2026, under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. HTX is the rebranded exchange formerly known as Huobi, a distinction that matters because the legal name on the sanctions notice differs from the trading brand.

In an analysis published July 21 titled “Screening HTX Beyond the UK Designation: Why Blockchain Intelligence Matters,” TRM said HTX had “rebuilt its on-chain plumbing” after the U.K. action. According to TRM’s assessment, the exchange has been rotating hot wallets and funding addresses across TRON, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain and Solana, retiring each wallet within hours. That cadence, TRM said, makes simple address blocklists less effective and strengthens the case for behavior-based monitoring. Ari Redbord, TRM’s global head of policy, told The Block that “HTX is changing its wallets every few hours to stay a step ahead of screening built on static lists.”

The operational stakes are straightforward. U.K. sanctions guidance later clarified that firms should treat the HTX exchange as subject to the designation for U.K. financial sanctions compliance because of ownership and control links to Huobi Global S.A. If wallet infrastructure tied to a sanctioned crypto business is changing every few hours and across multiple chains, firms screening only against fixed wallet blacklists could miss real-time exposure.

The U.K. sanctions notice imposed measures including an asset freeze and included a statement of reasons alleging that Huobi Global S.A. provided financial services to A7 LLC and Garantex Europe OU. Major coverage of the U.K. action, including reports citing Bloomberg and Chainalysis, said British authorities alleged HTX and Huobi helped move or channel about $1.5 billion in Russia-linked flows. That figure is an allegation cited in coverage of the U.K. action, not an independently established finding in TRM’s report.

HTX has publicly disputed wrongdoing. After the May 26 designation, the exchange said in a statement reported by Reuters: “Regulatory compliance remains our absolute top priority at HTX. We proactively monitor and strictly adhere to regulatory frameworks in all jurisdictions where we operate globally, including the UK.” As of TRM’s July 21 analysis, the United States and the European Union had not placed HTX or Huobi on their own sanctions lists. TRM’s report does not amount to an enforcement action; it is the firm’s analysis of how HTX’s on-chain wallet activity changed after the U.K. sanctions designation.