HTX may have sold stUSDT holdings to Binance: report

A new research report from Caico Research (Caico) finds that HTX has traded a significant amount of Tether (USDT) for USD over the past three months. A similar amount of USDC transfers to Binance followed each sale, suggesting a possible link between the two exchanges.

Kaikoh wallet data confirmed that HTX has traded $350 million USD for USDC since the beginning of July. At the same time, two wallets, Kaiko, began selling $400 million worth of HTX-linked assets to Binance in a separate transaction.

STUSDT Holdings Similar to Binance Transfer

These transactions shed further light on the HTX JustLend product. HTX gives JustLend customers one share of USDT (stUSDT) for every USDT deposited.

It claims to earn interest by using deposited USDT to buy low-risk Treasury instruments. His reported stUSDT deposits total $400 million, with the same amount transferred to Binance.

While there is no evidence of foul play, HTX's history of irregular trading is inconsistent with major market events.

When the Worldcoin WLD token launched this year, Kaiko identified buy and sell orders that appeared to be irregular in timing and size. Altcoins, which were under $1 billion from March to October, jumped to $3.4 billion in the week of July 16 from $1.4 billion the week after.

After the launch of the Worldcoin token, HTX held a fifth of the world's currency volume, while Poloniex, an exchange connected by crypto mogul Justin Sun, later registered $20 billion. The latter occurred in August when most exchange rates hit all-time lows.

Sun, who co-founded Poloniex and recently joined HTX's senior management, has been accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission of trading TRX. TRX is the native token of TRON, the blockchain Sun launched in September 2017.

Read more: 8 best on-chain analysis tools in 2023

HTX trust in stUSDT risk investors

HTX's holdings of stUSDT, also a token launched on TRON, now stand at $400 million, or about 14% of total reserves. The reserve in the asset has spooked institutional investors, who have reportedly lifted large holdings in HTX.

Read more: What is TRON (TRX) and how does it work?

The accompanying Tether decline is particularly interesting considering the exchanges that enjoy releasing the stablecoin. According to data from Defillama, HTX holds only 5% of the reserves in USDT, which is 25% less than rival Binance.

Most of the remaining reserves include TRX (19%) and HT (17%), which is native to the HTX exchange. Sun denied it was the party behind $200 million in HTX stock in August.

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