HTX Halts Trading in WLFI Pairs After World Liberty Financial Freezes Exchange-Linked Addresses

HTX has suspended several trading pairs tied to World Liberty Financial (WLFI) after the project’s team blocked exchange-linked addresses in the token’s smart contract, effectively stopping WLFI movement on-chain. For high-risk desks, the interesting part is not the drama; it is the mechanics: when a project can freeze assets at the contract level, trading, custody, and customer balances can all become one decision away from disruption.

1. World Liberty Financial used a locking mechanism on HTX-linked addresses in the smart contract for its native token, after which WLFI tokens could no longer move on the blockchain. WLFI representatives said the move was based on sanctions imposed on the exchange.
2. In response, HTX suspended trading in WLFI/USDT, USD1/USDT, BTC/USD1, and ETH/USD1. The exchange also blocked deposits and withdrawals of USD1 and automatically converted all customer balances in USD1 into USDT at a 1:1 rate.
3. HTX said the native WLFI tokens remain on-chain and that trading will reopen after World Liberty Financial unlocks the assets. The exchange also said it has formally asked WLFI to lift the restrictions.
4. HTX said the frozen assets belong to users who bought the tokens legally, and that it had not received any explanation from World Liberty Financial about the legal basis, framework, or procedure for the freeze.
5. USD1 is a dollar-pegged stablecoin that also trades on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange. HTX was one of the first platforms to support World Liberty Financial and listed USD1 on 6 May last year. On 26 May, the United Kingdom sanctioned Huobi Global, the Panama-registered parent company of HTX, saying it suspected the exchange of helping Russia evade international sanctions and move more than $1.5 billion through the platform. Shortly after that, rival exchange Bybit said it would apply additional customer checks to HTX.