HTX opens spot trading in 20 tokenized US stocks and ETFs

What happened

HTX has begun spot trading in 20 blockchain-based tokens tied to U.S. equities and exchange-traded funds, all quoted against USDT, after Justin Sun announced the rollout on X on November 9. In his post, Sun said U.S. stock spot trading had gone live on Huobi HTX, following the exchange's publication of a listing schedule.

Token deposits were set to open at 08:00 UTC, with the SPCX/USDT pair scheduled for 09:00 UTC and CRCL/USDT for 10:00 UTC. HTX said further pairs would open as liquidity allows. The exchange has not given a date for enabling withdrawals, which remain closed for now.

The list spans individual companies and funds, including NVDA, TSLA, GOOGL, MSTR, CRCL, MU, INTC, AMD, QQQ, TQQQ, SOXL and SNDK. The tokens belong to the bStocks series on BNB Smart Chain, and contract addresses for all 20 assets were published alongside the announcement. HTX is initially supporting only that network and that issuer, though it has said other issuers and chains may be added later without a timetable.

HTX frames the instruments as tokenized derivatives that deliver economic exposure rather than share ownership. Holders cannot exercise voting rights, and treatment of dividends, splits and other corporate actions depends on the issuer's documentation. The exchange also cautions that token prices may diverge from the securities they reference.

Why it matters

The listing pushes HTX further into traditional-finance products and puts it alongside other major crypto venues courting stock traders. Binance introduced its own bStocks line in June, and Kraken has offered U.S. stock trading plus tokenized xStocks to eligible European customers. For HTX, the appeal is a single account where users can move between crypto and equity exposure without opening a brokerage relationship, an argument the exchange has been making since it began building out stock futures earlier in 2026. The trade-off is that tokenized exposure comes with fewer rights and more operational questions than a conventional share purchase, including how the underlying assets are held and who holds them.

What the data shows

HTX said its stock futures had grown to 307 instruments by the end of October, with cumulative volume above $7.5 billion. On the spot side, the exchange is waiving maker fees on the designated pairs from 09:00 UTC on November 9 through 09:00 UTC on February 9, 2027, while standard taker fees continue to apply throughout. A separate challenge running November 9 to December 9 offers a full rebate of that day's fees to users reaching 10,000 USDT in single-day volume, a share of a 50,000 USDT pool at 500,000 USDT cumulative volume, and an iPhone Duo 1TB-equivalent reward for the three largest traders, each above 5,000,000 USDT. A daily draw until February 9, 2027 grants one entry per 200 USDT of daily volume, capped at three per day, with an iPhone 18 Pro Max as the top prize. Referral rewards of up to 200 USDT in coupons run November 9 to 23, alongside task-based rewards of up to 200 USDT and an airdrop draw of up to 50 USDT for new users whose first trade exceeds 20 USDT.

Background

The launch lands after the resolution of Sun's case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The regulator sued Sun and related companies in March 2023 over allegations involving unregistered offerings and wash trading. In March 2026 it announced a settlement dismissing claims against Sun, the Tron Foundation and the BitTorrent Foundation with prejudice, while a federal court entered a final judgment on March 9 requiring Rainberry to pay a $10 million civil penalty. The defendants accepted the resolution without admitting or denying the allegations. Separately, HTX reached an October settlement in Britain over financial promotion rules, agreeing to undertakings that last until October 2031 and to withdrawal arrangements for eligible British customers.

What is still unclear

Several details remain unconfirmed. HTX has not named a custodian for the securities behind the tokens, pointing users to issuer documentation for backing, custody and redemption terms. Its announcement sets out geographic restrictions and eligibility requirements but does not list permitted countries or say whether U.S. residents can access the pairs. Sun's post referred to similar services coming to Poloniex, yet HTX's published listing terms do not confirm which assets that exchange would carry or when. Crypto.news reported that it contacted HTX for clarity on backing, custody, eligibility and the Poloniex rollout and had not received a response by publication.

What to watch

The next concrete signal will be the opening of withdrawals, which HTX has left undated. Also worth tracking: whether additional issuers or blockchains join the unified order book, whether Poloniex follows with its own schedule, and how the zero-maker-fee promotion affects volumes once the campaign period ends in February 2027.

Questions readers ask