HTX Says ‘Mysterious’ Small Crypto Transfers Unrelated to Exchange, Investigating

HTX has responded to claims in digital-asset communities that small amounts of cryptocurrency were sent from the exchange to wallets belonging to unspecified users.

On Aug. 18, Liu Ye, HTX’s head of markets, wrote on X that the company had reviewed posts about the “mysterious small transfers” and immediately launched an internal investigation. So far, HTX has found no evidence that it conducted the transfers or any related tests.

Users in crypto communities had earlier reported receiving small amounts of digital assets from HTX. One user said 7.5 Tether, or USDT, was deposited from HTX into the user’s Coinbase account, prompting Coinbase to request an explanation of the source of funds.

Some users also raised concerns that such small transfers could “contaminate” a recipient wallet’s transaction history and trigger issues with anti-money laundering, or AML, systems.

HTX said it is also looking into the possibility of problems with address labeling or the identification of the source of on-chain transfers. Liu said the company is still verifying the specific source and cause of the transfers and is not ruling out multiple possibilities, including address labeling and the tracing of on-chain transfer origins. The company will refrain from speculation until the facts are confirmed, he added.

HTX is taking any issue involving the safety of user accounts and assets seriously and will share any additional findings with the community as soon as they are confirmed, Liu said.