HTX Delists Trump-Linked USD1 After Alleged Wallet Freeze

HTX, the crypto exchange linked to crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, delisted the Trump family’s USD1 stablecoin after claiming World Liberty Financial wrongly froze the exchange’s addresses.

“The World Liberty Financial (WLFI) project team recently stated that it has unilaterally imposed a freeze on specific HTX on-chain addresses based on sanctions compliance reviews,” said HTX on Saturday.

“As a result, the on-chain circulation of certain WLFI assets associated with these addresses has been restricted,” it said, adding it delisted USD1 to safeguard user assets. 

Last month, the UK sanctioned HTX, formerly called Huobi Global, on May 26, claiming there were “reasonable grounds to suspect” the exchange had supported Russia’s government through financial services.

However, HTX said the sanctioned entity, Huobi Global S.A., is “distinct from the online HTX exchange” and that such a designation should not impact the platform.

Source: HTX

The delisting took effect on Sunday. Deposit and conversion services for USD1 are no longer supported, and users’ USD1 holdings would be converted to the stablecoin Tether (USDt) at a 1:1 ratio, with exact completion times and details to be announced separately.

It has also suspended WLFI/USDT, USD1/USDT, BTC/USD1 and ETH/USD1 trading pairs. 

The exchange said its addresses were frozen “without sufficient prior communication, adequate contractual or legal grounds, transparent disclosure or adherence to due process” and that the move infringed the rights of its users and their assets, and has called WLFI to reverse the freeze.

HTX said it will also take measures to “safeguard users’ legitimate rights and interests, including but not limited to pursuing legal remedies.”

World Liberty, which counts US President Donald Trump and his three sons, Donald Jr., Eric and Barron as advisers, has not publicly addressed whether it froze HTX’s addresses.

It posted on X on Wednesday that “in light of recent sanctions updates, World Liberty Financial maintains risk-based sanctions compliance controls.”

Cointelegraph contacted World Liberty Financial for comment.

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Sun, who reportedly owns HTX and serves on the exchange’s global advisory board, sued World Liberty in April, claiming the platform froze his tokens and threatened to burn them “without any proper justification.”

In May, World Liberty sued Sun for defamation, claiming he made false statements about the platform and violated WLFI token sale terms through alleged prohibited transfers, short-selling and straw purchases.

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