HTX to delist WLFI’s USD1, convert balances to USDT

Crypto exchange HTX will remove World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin from its platform at 03:00 UTC on June 7 and convert eligible user balances 1:1 to Tether's USDT, the exchange announced.

HTX suspended trading in the WLFI/USDT, USD1/USDT, BTC/USD1 and ETH/USD1 pairs on June 5 at 13:00 UTC ahead of the delisting.

The exchange wrote that the WLFI project team unilaterally froze specific HTX-linked onchain addresses while carrying out sanctions compliance reviews, and that the freezes directly affected assets held by individual users.

HTX added the freezes were carried out “without sufficient prior communication, adequate contractual or legal grounds, transparent disclosure, or adherence to due process,” and that the action “directly infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of HTX users in their assets.”

HTX spokesperson Molly Fu posted on X that the affected assets “are not assets belonging to any sanctioned entity” but rather “assets legally purchased and owned by individual users,” and the exchange urged WLFI to unfreeze the impacted addresses immediately.

World Liberty Financial issues the WLFI governance token and the USD1 stablecoin and is closely associated with the Trump family. On June 3 the project reminded users it maintains sanctions compliance controls and that transactions involving sanctioned entities may be blocked; it did not name any counterparties. WLFI has not publicly answered questions about the HTX freezes.

The dispute followed a UK government designation on May 26 of Huobi Global S.A., which UK officials said facilitated more than $1.5 billion in flows tied to Russian sanctions evasion through the A7 network and the Garantex exchange. HTX maintains that the sanctioned Huobi Global S.A. is a distinct legal entity from the online HTX platform and that the designation does not affect HTX's operations or user funds.

HTX noted this is at least the second high-profile use of WLFI's onchain freeze capability. In September 2025 WLFI blacklisted the wallet of Tron founder Justin Sun after he moved about $9 million of WLFI between addresses including HTX; Sun filed a lawsuit alleging the WLFI contract contains a hidden backdoor that allows the team to freeze investor tokens without notice. WLFI has not responded to requests for comment on that case or the current HTX addresses.

HTX stated it will convert eligible holdings to USDT to preserve customer access to liquid, widely accepted stablecoin balances while the exchange seeks unfreezing of the affected addresses.