HTX, the cryptocurrency exchange associated with Tron founder and advisory board member Justin Sun, USD1 has been written offa stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture, on June 7, 2026, after WLFI unilaterally froze on-chain addresses linked to the exchange, a move that publicly anchored WLFI in obligations to comply with sanctions arising from the UK government’s May 26 designation of Huobi Global S.A.
The exchange had already suspended four trading pairs, WLFIUSDT, USD1/USDT, BTCUSD1, and ETHUSD1, on June 5 at 13:00 UTC, officially announced the delisting of the stablecoin on June 6, and converted all remaining USD1 user balances to Tether (USDt) at a 1:1 ratio as of June 7. HTX has called the freeze procedurally illegal and has threatened legal action to recover what it describes as improperly restricted user assets.
Announcement regarding deletion of USD1 (USD1) and conversion of user assets to USDT on HTX
Since USD1 is an asset issued by the WLFI project team, in order to mitigate potential risks, protect user assets and maintain a fair trading environment, HTX will delist USD1 at 03:00… https://t.co/pkYx4bT9rl
– HTX (@HTX_Global) June 6, 2026
This is not just an exchange delisting a stablecoin. This is the most operationally significant escalation to date in a heated legal dispute over cryptocurrencies between Sun and World Liberty Financial, a dispute that now refers to custody rights of user assets, the jurisdictional reach of UK sanctions on decentralized token infrastructure, and the question of the extent to which a politically connected stablecoin issuer can exercise powers to freeze smart contracts against exchange counterparties without regulatory authorization or due process.
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On-Chain Address Freezing Mechanics: How Trump WLFI Crypto Guardian Controls Reached HTX Users and What the Sanctions Timeline Actually Shows
The mechanism works as follows: WLFI’s smart contract architecture includes a designated guardian address with the technical authority to blacklist specific wallet addresses and restrict token transfers at the contract level, without the need for court authorization, regulatory order or prior notification to the affected counterparty.
When WLFI invoked this mechanism against HTX-linked addresses, the practical effect was that on-chain trading of WLFI-linked assets held at or passing through those addresses became restricted, meaning HTX was no longer able to process withdrawals, facilitate trades, or redeem USD1 positions through standard on-chain paths.
The exchange reported on June 6 that “the World Liberty Financial project team recently stated that it had unilaterally imposed a freeze on specific on-chain HTX addresses based on sanctions compliance reviews” and that “as a result, on-chain trading of certain WLFI assets associated with these addresses has been restricted.”
Official statement from HTX regarding the handling of WLFI and USD1 assets
The World Liberty Financial (WLFI) project team recently said that it had unilaterally imposed a freeze on specific on-chain HTX addresses based on sanctions compliance reviews.
As a result,…
– HTX (@HTX_Global) June 6, 2026
The context of UK sanctions requires careful formulation. On May 26, 2026, the UK government designated Huobi Global SA, citing “reasonable grounds to suspect” that the entity supported the Russian government through financial services, language reflecting the UK’s standard evidentiary threshold for asset freeze designations rather than a finding of substantiated conduct.
HTX objected to the applicability of this designation to its operating exchange, stating that Huobi Global SA is “distinct from the HTX online exchange” and that the UK action should have no operational consequences for the platform.
It is necessary to note the state of knowledge in other details: WLFI did not publicly confirm that it froze HTX addresses, nor did it specify what sanctions framework it applied or why HTX addresses – rather than addresses of other exchanges – led to its compliance review. WLFI posted on
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HTX’s Legal Position: The Due Process Argument, Commercial Risk, and Strategic Rationale for Public Escalation
HTX’s formal objection focuses on procedural legality rather than the issue of substantive sanctions. The exchange stated that the freeze was imposed “without sufficient prior communications, sufficient contractual or legal foundations, transparent disclosure or adherence to due process,” a framing that deliberately sidesteps whether the UK designation is valid and instead challenges the WLFI’s authority to translate the sanctions designation into a unilateral on-chain freeze affecting third-party users’ funds.
HTX has called on WLFI to reverse the freeze and stated that it will take action “to protect the legitimate rights and interests of users, including but not limited to pursuing legal remedies.”
HTX suspends WLFI and USD1 trading, all users convert USD1 to USDT after freeze
HTX representatives stated that the team behind WLFI, the cryptocurrency project backed by the Trump family, recently froze addresses associated with HTX citing British sanctions screening, without sufficient warning… pic.twitter.com/7R3mtIQW6o
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 6, 2026
We suspect that HTX’s decision to publicly escalate rather than seek a quiet trading resolution reflects a calculated assessment that compliance would set a damaging precedent — that any stablecoin issuer with smart contract freezing powers could effectively force an exchange to delist by invoking a rationale for compliance, without engaging standard regulatory or judicial channels.
The trading risks are not trivial: HTX has positioned itself as the first exchange globally to list US$1, marketing the stablecoin as “fully collateralized” with permanent, fee-free withdrawals, and the subsequent forced delisting carries a reputational cost that compounds the ongoing legal exposure from the broader Sun-WLFI dispute.
This dispute, which began in earnest when WLFI’s custodian address blacklisted a Sun-linked wallet containing approximately 545 million WLFI tokens (September 2025) and escalated into a federal lawsuit for Sun in California, alleging that WLFI froze its tokens and threatened to burn them “without any proper justification,” — has now expanded its operational radius to include HTX’s user base.
Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to provide accurate and timely information but should not be considered financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify the information yourself and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
Daniel Francis is a technical writer and Web3 educator specializing in macroeconomics and DeFi mechanics. A crypto native since 2017, Daniel brings his background in cross-chain analytics to author evidence-based reports and detailed guides. It is certified by the Blockchain Council and is dedicated to providing “information gain” that cuts through the market noise to find blockchain’s real-world utility.
