HTX Ventures is the venture capital arm of HTX, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. HTX was originally founded in 2013 as Huobi by Leon Li in Beijing, China, and grew into a top-three global spot exchange by volume through the mid-2010s. In September 2023, the exchange rebranded from Huobi to HTX – a name that references the exchange's relationship with the Tron ecosystem following Justin Sun's rise as a major stakeholder and strategic adviser to the platform. HTX Ventures operates as the institutional investment vehicle channeling the exchange's capital into early-stage blockchain and Web3 projects.
The fund focuses primarily on seed and Series A rounds across decentralized finance, Layer 1 and Layer 2 infrastructure, Web3 gaming, and cross-chain tooling. Its geographic orientation leans toward Asia-Pacific founders, reflecting HTX's historical user base in East and Southeast Asia, though the portfolio is global in scope. Total assets under management have not been publicly disclosed. With a portfolio count of approximately 15 companies, HTX Ventures operates at a more selective scale than the largest exchange-backed funds such as Binance Labs or OKX Ventures.
Notable investments
Public information about specific HTX Ventures portfolio companies is limited. The fund has not maintained a regularly updated public portfolio page, and third-party databases such as Crunchbase list only a partial set of deals. Investments confirmed or reported in industry coverage include early positions in DeFi protocols and cross-chain bridge projects across the Tron, Ethereum, and BNB Chain ecosystems. Specific deal sizes have not been disclosed publicly for the majority of positions.
Team
Public information about the dedicated HTX Ventures investment team is limited. The broader HTX organization is operationally tied to Justin Sun, who has acted as a public representative for the exchange since 2022. Leon Li, the original Huobi founder, stepped back from day-to-day management. No named managing partners or general partners for the HTX Ventures vehicle have been formally announced in public communications as of early 2026.
Recent activity
HTX itself faced significant turbulence in 2023 and 2024. In November 2023, the exchange suffered a security incident resulting in approximately $87 million in losses across the HTX platform and the HECO bridge. The incident drew regulatory scrutiny and raised questions about reserve transparency. HTX responded with public proof-of-reserves disclosures and continued operations. In parallel, Justin Sun faced an SEC civil complaint filed in March 2023 alleging market manipulation and unregistered securities offerings – a case that remained unresolved through 2025.
Against this backdrop, HTX Ventures' deployment pace appears to have slowed relative to 2021–2022 peak activity. The fund's relatively small disclosed portfolio and modest reported retail ROI of 0.09 suggest a conservative or consolidating posture. Whether HTX Ventures expands its mandate or remains a limited-activity arm will likely depend on the resolution of the broader regulatory and reputational challenges facing the parent exchange.
