High Court | Crypto

The UK’s financial watchdog sued Panama-based HTX exchange and unidentified persons, alleging illegal crypto promotions on social media despite warnings. 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. Read more

A Block Earner spokesperson told Cointelegraph that ASIC's case against the firm has escalated to a “broader legal question” around the definition of a financial product. Australia’s financial regulator will seek the High Court’s permission to appeal a lower court’s ruling favoring fintech firm Block Earner, which found the company’s crypto-linked fixed-yield earning service is not a financial product. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission said on May 21 that it wants to ask the High Court of Australia to clarify what the definition of a financial product is and clarify the circumstances when an interest-earning product and the conversion of assets from one form to another are regulated. “The definition of financial product was drafted in a broad and technology-neutral way, and ASIC believes it is in the public interest to clarify this,” the watchdog said. Read more