HTX's Notice on Supporting the Upcoming Ethereum Merge

Dear HTX users,

 

As per announced by the Ethereum Foundation, the execution layer Paris upgrade, marking the migration from proof-of-power to proof-of-stake, is around the corner. This historical event will be triggered when the Terminal Total Difficulty value reaches 58750000000000000000000, which is expected to happen between Sept 10 to Sept 20, or more specifically at around 2022-09-15 00:30 (UTC) at an approximate ETH mainnet block height of 15,540,293.

 

The Merge is a two-step process. The first step prior to the Paris upgrade is a network upgrade on the consensus layer, the Bellatrix, which is scheduled for an epoch height of 144896 at 11:34:47am UTC on Sept 6, 2022.

 

HTX will support the two upgrades and is ready for a possible hard fork and a new token that may be produced from it. HTX is to take the following measures to protect user asset security and reduce the trading risks that may arise from price volatility during the hard fork.

 

1. Suspension of deposits and withdrawals

HTX will suspend the deposit and withdrawal services for ETH and ERC-20 tokens from 11:00:00 UTC Sept 6, 2022 (the consensus layer upgrade) till further notice of the recovery of these services. We kindly advise you to spare a sufficient time buffer for your deposits and withdrawals of the affected tokens, which should be scheduled before the said time.We will publish another notice to let you know whether the deposit and withdrawal services would be affected by the Paris upgrade.

 

2. Suspension of new margin loans

To manage the margin risk, HTX will suspend the cross and isolated ETH margin trading loan service and the ETH crypto loans service from 00:00 (UTC) Sept 14 to 00:00 (UTC) Sept 16, 2022. Please make sure you plan your loan positions accordingly.

 

3. Asset and trading services will remain unaffected
  • Asset status, spot trading, and strategy trading (Trading Bot) services for ETH and ERC-20 tokens will not be affected during the hard fork. But the market may fluctuate in response to the hard fork. It’s well-advised to act prudently.
  • P2P, Quick Buy/Sell, and Auto-Invest will not be affected. Asset balance snapshots will be based on the completed orders. If the payment has been made for an order but the order is still pending when a snapshot is taken, then the asset involved in this order will not count toward the asset balance. Do schedule sufficient time for yourself so that the order can be completed in time. The 3rd Party Payment channel for buying ETH and ERC-20 tokens will be temporarily suspended from 09:00 (UTC) Sept 6, 2022, until further notice of recovery time.
  • Cross and isolated margin trading will not be affected. But the margin loan services for cross and isolated ETH margin trading will be temporarily suspended from 00:00 (UTC) Sept 14 to 00:00 (UTC) Sept 16, 2022. Please watch out for volatile market movements, which may cause liquidation events during the hard fork.
  • Futures trading of ETH and ERC-20 tokens will not be affected. But the hard fork may result in high price volatility and extreme market conditions. Please pay close attention to the Merge time and make informed decisions on position management and risk control.
  • ETP trading services for ETH's ETP products (ETH3L/USDT, ETH3S/USDT, ETH1S/USDT) will be affected in the subscription session only for the duration from 02:00 (UTC) Sept 14 to 02:00 (UTC) Sept 16, 2022. Trading and redemption of these ETP products will function normally. Note: Airdrops, if any occur, will not apply to these ETP products.
  • Dual Investment of ETH will not be affected. Any uncompleted ETH dual investment orders during the hard fork will have their purchase amounts recorded in snapshots. Airdrops, if any occur, will be credited to your accounts after the hard fork ends.
  • HTX Earn products on ETH are be unaffected in either subscription or redemption.

 

4. Possible scenarios regarding the Merge

There are two possible scenarios regarding the Merge:

1). No new token is created: HTX will confirm the stability and security of the Ethereum mainnet before recovering the deposit, withdrawal, margin loan, and crypto loan services for ETH. We will make another announcement and let you know the exact time for this matter.

 

2). The network forks into two competing chains and a new token is created: Then the symbol ETH will be used in the ETH PoS chain. HTX will then send users the forked tokens at a 1:1 ratio based on ETH balances snapshots taken before the Paris upgrade (approximately at the mainnet block height of 15,540,293 and around 2022-09-15 00:30 (UTC)). The forked tokens will be credited to users' spot accounts. A specific announcement will also be published to inform our users of the airdrop crediting of the forked token.

 

5. On BETH

If a new token is created by the hard fork, it remains to be determined by the new chain whether BETH holders will receive forked tokens from the new chain. We will keep you posted.

Please note that the staked ETH can be redeemed only after the Shanghai upgrade is completed on Ethereum.

Though the existing subscription orders for ETH 2.0 Staking are not affected, new subscription applications will not be accepted during the period from 00:00 (UTC) Sept 14 to 00:00 (UTC) Sept 16, 2022.

 

6. About airdrop crediting of the forked tokens

1) Spot Account: The airdrop amount depends on the sum of the snapshot ETH balances in the main account and sub-accounts.

2) Fiat Account: The airdrop amount depends on the snapshot ETH balance in OTC accounts.

3) Futures Account: The airdrop amount depends on the sum of snapshot ETH equity balances in coin-margined futures accounts (including delivery and perpetual).

4) Margin Accounts: The airdrop amount depends on the snapshot ETH equity balances in margin accounts. The outstanding ETH debt will be deducted from the total ETH balance when snapshots are taken. (For instance, if a user has an outstanding debt of 1,000 ETH and the account balance at the snapshot time is X ETH, then the ETH equity balance would appear as the difference of X minus 1000 in the snapshot).

5) Crypto Loans Account: The ETH assets used as collateral in the crypto loan service will not count as ETH balance in the snapshots.

6) HTX Earn Account: The airdrop amount depends on the account's snapshot ETH balances. Please note that whether there will be an airdrop crediting for the staked ETH assets in ETH for stETH depends on the forked chain. We will follow closely on this matter and keep you posted.

7) Strategy Trading Account: The airdrop amount depends on the account's snapshot ETH balances.

8) Options Account: The airdrop amount depends on the account's snapshot ETH balances.

 

Please note:

  • The forked tokens will be credited to users' spot accounts. A notice will be announced to inform users of the completion of the airdrop crediting.
  • A single position (including open orders) of less than 0.003 ETH, as shown in balance snapshots, is not included in the forked token airdrops.
  • The snapshot balances do not include the ETH assets that have not arrived in the destination accounts, are in the withdrawal process, or are already sold at the time when snapshots are taken.

 

7. More

  • HTX's existing listing process in effect apply to the forked tokens too. Please refer to future HTX official announcements regarding whether trading services will be open for the forked tokens.
  • Due to local regulatory restrictions, users based in the countries/regions of China Mainland, United States of America, Canada, Japan, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Singapore, and Crimea will not receive the forked token airdrops. For more information, please refer to the Terms of User of HTX.

HTX will keep you informed of the latest progress. For more about the Merge, please visit the following Ethereum websites:

HTX

August 28, 2022

 

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HTX reserves the right in its sole discretion to amend or change or cancel this announcement at any time and for any reasons without prior notice. The above is for information purposes only and HTX makes no recommendations or guarantees in respect of any digital asset, product, or promotion on HTX. Prices of digital assets are highly volatile and trading digital assets involves risk. Please read our Risk Reminder text here.