Today in crypto, the United Kingdom’s financial watchdog sued Panama-based HTX exchange and unidentified persons, alleging illegal crypto promotions on social media despite previous warnings, the US Federal Reserve’s Chris Waller said crypto hype is fading as it ties in with traditional finance, and crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) outflows slowed to $187 million last week after an extended run of losses.
UK FCA takes High Court action against HTX over crypto promotions
The United Kingdom’s financial watchdog has launched court action against cryptocurrency exchange HTX, alleging it illegally promoted crypto asset services to British consumers in breach of financial advertising rules.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it began proceedings against HTX and several related persons in the Chancery Division of the High Court in October 2025.
In an update published Tuesday, the regulator said it received permission on Wednesday to serve the case outside the UK and by alternative means, noting that HTX (formerly known as Huobi Global) is incorporated in Panama.
The legal action comes under the FCA’s Financial Promotions (FinProm) Regime, adopted in October 2023, which tightened requirements on how crypto firms can market their services to UK consumers.
“Firms providing crypto products to UK consumers need to comply with rules which protect consumers from unfair and misleading marketing,” the regulator said. It added that advertising crypto assets on social media or websites without complying with these rules is a criminal offense.
The FCA had previously warned about HTX’s promotion of crypto services to UK consumers, the statement added.
“However, it has continued to publish financial promotions in breach of these rules on its website and on social media platforms, including TikTok, X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube,” the authority said.
Crypto hype “fading” as it ties in with TradFi: Fed’s Waller
Federal Reserve Governor Chris Waller said on Monday the crypto hype that came with US President Donald Trump’s election victory has begun to wane as the market has become more entangled with a typically risk-averse traditional finance.
“I think some of the euphoria that came into the crypto world with the current administration, some of that’s kind of fading,” Waller said at a conference, adding that a lot of crypto “has been brought into mainstream finance.”
“Then, you know, things have to happen there, so I think there was a lot of sell-off just because firms that got into it from mainstream finance had to adjust their risk positions,” he said.
Waller also argued that Congress’ failure to quickly pass a crypto market structure bill had also “put people off” as many traditional firms are uncertain about how the products are regulated.
He also brushed off the recent market drop as “part of the game” with crypto. “You get in, you make some money, you might lose some money — that’s the nature of the beast.”
Crypto investment outflows ease after three weeks of heavy selling
Crypto investment products logged a third straight week of outflows, though the pace of selling eased markedly as digital asset prices steadied after a sharp downturn.
Crypto ETPs recorded $187 million in outflows during the week, a sharp drop from the $3.43 billion seen over the previous two weeks, CoinShares reported on Monday.
The slowdown came as Bitcoin (BTC) fell to its lowest level since November 2024, with the price touching $60,000 on Coinbase last Thursday.
“While flows typically move in line with crypto prices, changes in the pace of outflows have historically been more informative, often signaling inflection points in investor sentiment,” said James Butterfill, CoinShares’ head of research.
Bitcoin investment products were the only ETP group to suffer significant losses last week, with outflows totaling $264.4 million.
XRP (XRP) funds led inflows, attracting $63 million, while other altcoin ETPs, such as those tracking Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL), posted modest gains of $5.3 million and $8.2 million, respectively.
Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) accounted for a large portion of Bitcoin ETP outflows last week, amounting to $318 million, according to SoSoValue data.