HTX's September proof of reserves lists balances its own blockchain records don't support

Justin Sun-affiliated exchange HTX published a proof-of-reserves (PoR) report for September that claims holdings the underlying blockchain data doesn't back up, according to an investigation by Protos published September 23.

The clearest discrepancy involves USDS, the Sky (formerly MakerDAO) stablecoin. HTX's report, dated September 1, states it held 360,949.90 USDS in the address 0xdaa4393013f359fd63a133a3b893d311aba4e471 at block height 25876316. Per Protos, that address held zero USDS at that block. The only time the address received USDS was at block 25889452 — a transaction Protos dates to September 2, after the report's own cutoff. In other words, on the day HTX says the funds were there, on-chain records reviewed by Protos show they weren't.

A second, smaller gap concerns USDD, the stablecoin Sun founded. HTX's report claims 44,975,772.00 USDD in 0x18709e89bd403f470088abdacebe86cc60dda12e at the same block height. Protos found 44,886,000 USDD in that address at that block — a shortfall of roughly 89,772 tokens against the reported figure.

Protos notes this isn't the first time HTX's numbers haven't reconciled. In its May PoR, the exchange reported an amount of STEAK-USDC in an address that, per Protos's earlier reporting, held none — though it did hold an equivalent amount of sUSDS, suggesting HTX had mislabeled which asset was in the wallet.

Protos says it contacted HTX about the September discrepancies. The exchange did not respond before publication.

Key facts

• HTX's September PoR (dated Sept 1) claims 360,949.90 USDS at block 25876316 in a named address that held 0 USDS at that block — the address first received USDS at block 25889452, dated Sept 2 (Protos, citing on-chain data).
• Same report claims 44,975,772.00 USDD at block 25876316; the address held 44,886,000 USDD at that block — a ~89,772 USDD gap (Protos).
• A prior May PoR reported STEAK-USDC in an address that held sUSDS instead (Protos, citing its earlier reporting).
• HTX did not respond to Protos's request for comment.

The real-world read Proof of reserves exists precisely so users don't have to take an exchange's word for it — the whole point is that the claims match the chain. Here, per Protos, at least two of HTX's September figures don't, and the USDS timing is the awkward one: the report is dated September 1, but the address didn't receive the USDS until September 2. That is consistent with a wallet being topped up after the fact rather than holding the assets on the attestation date, though only HTX can explain which. Note the exposure runs to Sun-linked assets specifically — USDD is Sun's own stablecoin. One caveat on sourcing: this rests on a single secondary outlet's reading of the chain; the block heights and addresses are checkable, but HTX's silence means there's no reconciliation from the other side. A repeated pattern of mismatches — May and now September — is what turns a possible clerical error into a question about the PoR process itself.

This is news, not financial advice.

Sources

• Protos (Sept 23, 2026) — reported the September USDS and USDD discrepancies against on-chain balances at the cited block, the May STEAK-USDC/sUSDS mismatch, and HTX's non-response. Secondary source citing its own review of blockchain data; no primary statement from HTX obtained.