Bybit vs HTX

Bybit vs HTX: which to use

Bybit vs HTX is a choice between two centralized exchanges with the same maker fee and different taker fees, leverage ceilings and ID rules. Bybit charges 2 bp maker and 5.5 bp taker, requires standard verification for every product, and lists 857 perp markets. HTX charges 2 bp maker and 6 bp taker, lets you start trading without ID inside limits, and offers up to 200x against Bybit's 150x. Bybit fits market-order traders who want a wider market list. HTX fits traders who want to start without ID or need the highest leverage.

How each exchange is built

Bybit is a centralized exchange (CEX): you open an account with the company, and the account holds your funds. HTX is built the same way. Both match orders on a central limit order book, so you trade against resting orders from other users. The practical difference between them is in fees, markets and access, not in how they are built.

Fees and what they mean

Bybit's base tier is 2 bp maker and 5.5 bp taker, per Bybit's fee page. HTX's base tier is 2 bp maker and 6 bp taker, per HTX's fee page.

A taker fee is paid when an order takes liquidity, such as a market order. A market order pays it to open and again to close: 11 bp per round trip on Bybit and 12 bp on HTX. A maker fee is paid when an order rests on the book and is filled later. Both charge 2 bp for that, so limit orders cost the same on both at the base tier.

The fee is not the whole cost. Slippage, the price you move by eating through the order book, grows with size. The cost table above adds the taker fee twice to the slippage we read from each live order book, at each size from $1k to $5M. Every exchange's trading cost is compared on one page.

Markets and leverage

As of 1 October 2026 Bybit lists 857 active perpetual markets, 237 of them stocks, commodities, FX or other real-world assets. HTX lists 370, of which 251 are real-world assets. Bybit has more markets in total. HTX has more real-world asset markets, both in count and in share of its list. The real-world asset perps page covers this segment.

Bybit offers up to 150x on its highest-leverage market and HTX up to 200x. On both, most markets allow less. Both pay funding every 1 hour, 4 hours or 8 hours depending on the market. An hourly market settles 24 times a day and an 8-hour market three times, so check a market's interval before you hold a position. The list further down this page shows the markets both exchanges have and each one's funding rate.

Who can use them

Bybit requires standard verification for every product. HTX is limited without ID: trading starts without ID, inside limits that verification lifts. For accounts opened since 2026-03-30 with no ID, futures are capped at 5x and API trading is closed. More leverage and the API need level-2 KYC. If you run an API-based strategy on HTX, plan on level-2 verification.

Tokens

HTX has a token, $HTX.

Reading the numbers on this page

Bybit publishes open interest as longs plus shorts, both sides of every position. HTX publishes one side of open positions. For the same positions Bybit's figure reads about twice as large, so the open interest row and chart above are not a like-for-like comparison of size.

Neither exchange has a TVL row or chart, as is usual for a centralized exchange. Volume, depth and funding are live in the Head to head table, and the BTC page shows every exchange that lists BTC.

Which one fits you

• Pick Bybit if you trade with market orders: 5.5 bp taker against 6 bp on HTX.
• Pick Bybit if you want the wider list of perps: 857 markets against 370.
• Pick Bybit if you want more markets that are not real-world assets: 620 against 119 on HTX.
• Pick HTX if you want to start trading without ID, inside the limits verification lifts.
• Pick HTX if you need up to 200x rather than 150x, once your account has level-2 KYC for leverage above 5x.
• Pick HTX if you want more stocks, commodities and FX perps: 251 markets against 237 on Bybit.