Overview
- London’s High Court paused the Financial Conduct Authority’s civil case on Thursday and gave both sides until late August to try to settle the FCA’s claim that HTX illegally promoted crypto services in the UK, court filings show.
- The FCA alleges HTX marketed crypto to UK customers without the required FCA registration or anti-money‑laundering checks introduced for crypto in October 2023.
- UK and EU sanctions imposed on HTX in May 2026 add legal and practical complexity to talks by restricting some interactions with the platform and raising enforcement risks.
- HTX says it has restricted new UK registrations while keeping existing UK users on the platform, and the FCA has asked social media firms and app stores to remove or block HTX promotional content for UK users.
- How the talks finish will likely set a precedent on whether UK regulators can use domestic courts, sanctions and platform controls to police opaque, offshore crypto firms and affect the protections available to UK consumers.