The Security Commitment Through Bull and Bear Markets: HTX's Long-Termism Behind 36 Consecutive Months of PoR

In recent years, the wave of hacker attacks has intensified, with security risks such as wallet private key leaks, phishing and social engineering, infrastructure API vulnerabilities, and DeFi contract flaws emerging one after another. The security capabilities of crypto platforms are facing unprecedented challenges. In the first half of 2025 alone, the crypto industry experienced a record number of security incidents, with total losses exceeding $2.47 billion, surpassing the total for all of 2024. As attack methods become increasingly professional and organized, the security capabilities of exchanges have shifted from a competitive advantage to a fundamental requirement for survival.

Within the entire crypto financial ecosystem, CEXs (Centralized Exchanges) are the first entry point for users into the industry and serve as the most core trading hubs. However, as trading volumes continue to grow, CEXs have also become prime targets for hackers, making asset security their top priority.

Statistics show that from January 2012 to February 2024, there have been 148 hacking incidents worldwide involving cryptocurrency exchanges, with total losses exceeding $11 billion. In February of this year, the industry was shaken again by an attack meticulously planned by the hacker organization Lazarus, resulting in a major exchange losing up to $1.4 billion, setting a record for the largest single theft in crypto history. This incident once again exposes deep-seated issues in the industry regarding the evolution of attack methods, vulnerabilities in defense systems, and cross-platform coordinated response mechanisms.

Under the dual pressures of stricter regulation and frequent attacks, Sun Yuchen, the global advisor of Huobi HTX, once said, “User asset security is Huobi HTX’s lifeline.” While the industry is still exploring under the shadow of hackers, Huobi HTX’s practices may point to a direction: true security begins with technology, is built on transparency, and is ultimately rooted in trust.

As one of the world’s leading crypto asset service platforms, Huobi HTX continuously enhances internal transparency and self-regulation mechanisms, while also strengthening external risk control and security defense systems. This “internal and external” security strategy has helped HTX stand out in the industry, earning widespread trust from users and markets.

According to Kaiko’s 2025 Q2 exchange rankings, Huobi HTX performed outstandingly in areas such as security and compliance, climbing to the top eight globally and becoming one of the fastest-improving exchanges in the top ten. This achievement is a testament to Huobi HTX’s ongoing commitment to security development and maintaining trust.

( Continually Upgrading Security Systems to Build a “Trinity” Defense Network

As attack techniques evolve, every breach can instantly threaten the assets of thousands of users. Security offense and defense remain a prolonged battle. Huobi HTX continuously upgrades and reconstructs its internal security system to comprehensively safeguard user assets and platform operations.

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In the first half of this year, Huobi HTX established a “Trinity” defense framework, coordinating efforts across risk control, operations, and security intelligence (public opinion) to build a multi-dimensional, layered defense system:

The first line of Huobi HTX’s security system is a self-developed, millisecond-response real-time risk control rules engine, combined with comprehensive platform business chain monitoring and alert systems, enabling instant filtering and identification of key user behaviors. Whether it’s login, withdrawals, or trades, once abnormal patterns are detected, the system triggers risk control rules within milliseconds to intercept or require secondary verification. This mechanism aligns with the defense-in-depth strategy commonly used by top financial technology companies, greatly reducing risks such as account theft, asset transfer, and malicious trading manipulation. Notably, Huobi HTX also incorporates artificial intelligence and big data analysis to assist risk control decisions, using machine learning models to identify suspicious behavior patterns and continuously optimize the rule database, allowing the risk control system to evolve autonomously. This reflects an industry trend shifting from traditional rule-based risk control to intelligent, data-driven risk management.

Beyond technical defenses, Huobi HTX has established a 24/7 security operations and customer support team as an essential supplement to its security system. When monitoring systems issue risk alerts or users report security incidents, the operations team can respond immediately. For example, if unauthorized login or abnormal activity is suspected on a user account, customer support will proactively contact the user for verification and, if necessary, freeze related operations until the risk is resolved. This “human-machine” operational mechanism ensures a closed-loop handling of risk events: from detection—response—resolution—feedback, with dedicated personnel following each step to minimize the impact of security incidents.

Recognizing that professional hacker groups are becoming more organized and specialized, Huobi HTX emphasizes external security cooperation networks. The platform maintains close communication and collaboration with top security firms, blockchain project teams, and other major exchanges, establishing a cross-platform “joint defense” mechanism. When significant security incidents occur or new attack methods are discovered industry-wide, Huobi HTX can quickly obtain intelligence and respond in sync. This public opinion security system acts as a second “firewall,” extending the platform’s security perimeter beyond its own operations into the broader industry network.

With the coordinated operation of these three security systems, Huobi HTX has achieved significant progress in protecting accounts, funds, and information. These technological and institutional upgrades mark an important milestone in Huobi HTX’s security development, enhancing the platform’s resilience and transparency to better resist risks.

In recent years, Huobi HTX has also been deploying multi-layer risk control systems and advanced technologies to safeguard user assets against evolving threats. For example, the platform has implemented multi-device login and remote login alerts, combined with 24/7 risk inspections and AI early warning mechanisms, forming a closed-loop “system—process—operation” response framework. For asset custody, Huobi HTX adopts a multi-tier wallet architecture—hot, warm, and cold wallets—holding the majority of assets in cold wallets to ensure security while maintaining liquidity.

Additionally, Huobi HTX actively adopts and develops emerging technologies, expanding security collaborations. For instance, integrating with Fireblocks’ Off Exchange solutions using MPC technology to reduce single-point private key risks, and partnering with custody providers like BitGo to support off-chain custody, internal trading, and external settlement, further strengthening fund management security and transparency.

Every asset movement behind the scenes is protected by a meticulous security system. Although Huobi HTX’s security infrastructure has made great strides, the entire industry’s offense and defense remain a long-term battle, with attack methods continuously evolving—from technical vulnerabilities to social engineering and impersonation of official channels.

( Demonstrating Defense Strength with PoR Mechanism to Reinforce Internal Security

In the crypto world, “Trust but verify” is not just a motto but a necessity. Huobi HTX was among the earliest exchanges to implement Proof of Reserves (PoR). As early as November 2022, when the FTX incident triggered a trust crisis in the industry, HTX (then Huobi) announced the adoption of Merkle Tree-based proof of reserves, regularly disclosing the platform’s assets and liabilities to users.

To date, Huobi HTX has maintained a monthly update of proof of reserves data for 36 consecutive months.

Every month, Huobi HTX publishes the proof of reserves data on its official website under “Assets—Proof of Reserves Report,” providing transparency. To ensure the credibility of the proof, Huobi HTX makes available Merkle verification tools and main wallet addresses on the official page. Users can extract their account nodes for self-verification or compare wallet balances via blockchain explorers. The platform also signs these addresses to prove they are controlled by Huobi HTX, enabling independent verification of the reserve data.

These measures position Huobi HTX among the few exchanges that fully open-source their reserve data, wallet ownership, and on-chain holdings for verification. In other words, Huobi HTX does not require users to blindly trust the disclosed data but provides tools for users to verify themselves.

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In terms of PoR operations, Huobi HTX also strives for professionalism and efficiency.

The platform announced that in the first half of 2025, it will upgrade its reserve proof data storage architecture to handle large asset data more stably, enable faster queries, and facilitate easier access to historical reports. This demonstrates Huobi HTX’s commitment beyond superficial disclosure, investing in a robust backend system to support ongoing PoR operations. Monthly reserve audits involve aggregating multi-chain and multi-wallet balance snapshots, which pose technical and management challenges.

From Huobi HTX’s practice, transparency in reserves complements external risk control systems. PoR acts as an internal financial transparency measure, preventing the exchange from misappropriating user assets and fundamentally avoiding scenarios like the FTX collapse caused by fund misappropriation or misallocation. The publicly accessible reserve proof acts as a supervisory sword, compelling the platform to maintain sufficient reserves at all times.

This internal discipline mechanism effectively protects user assets passively. However, PoR alone cannot prevent external risks such as hacking thefts, so a comprehensive external risk control system remains essential. The combination of internal transparency and external defense forms a solid security fortress for Huobi HTX.

( Security Remains a Long-Term Battle

In the crypto industry, there is no one-time solution for security. Attack methods evolve, and defense systems must continuously iterate.

Reviewing Huobi HTX’s security development path, it’s clear that the platform consistently focuses on two keywords: transparency and risk control. Transparency constrains the platform’s behavior and reassures users, while risk control actively defends against external threats. Only when both internal transparency and external security are well implemented can user assets be better protected.

As the saying goes, “Trust is good, but control is better.” Huobi HTX is trying to build the strongest fortress in the most trust-scarce domain. Every data update, every risk control optimization, and every rapid response to security incidents reflect Huobi HTX’s sense of responsibility for the industry’s security ecosystem and sincerity toward its users.

Security construction is never a one-off effort but a long-term campaign requiring continuous investment and iterative improvement.