MEXC vs HTX

MEXC or HTX: which to use

MEXC vs HTX is a choice between two centralized exchanges that both match on an order book, so fees, markets, leverage and ID rules decide it. MEXC charges 1 bp maker and 4 bp taker, offers up to 1000x and requires KYC before any trading. HTX charges 2 bp maker and 6 bp taker, offers up to 200x and lets you start trading without ID inside limits. HTX has more stock, commodity and FX perps as a share of its book. MEXC has more markets overall. Pick on the fee rate and market count, or on whether you want to trade before verifying.

How each exchange is built

MEXC 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. For a trader this means no self-custody wallet on either side: you deposit to an account and trade inside it.

Fees and what they mean

MEXC's base tier is 1 bp maker and 4 bp taker. We read these from MEXC's API, and MEXC has no fee page to link. HTX's base tier is 2 bp maker and 6 bp taker, per HTX's fee page.

A market order pays the taker fee to open and again to close: 8 bp per round trip on MEXC and 12 bp on HTX. A limit order that rests on the book pays the maker fee instead, 1 bp on MEXC and 2 bp on HTX. If you can wait for a fill, the gap between the two exchanges narrows in absolute terms.

The fee is only part of the cost. Slippage, the price you move by eating through the order book, grows with size and depends on book depth. The round trip in the cost table above includes both at each size from $1k to $5M, and every exchange's trading cost is compared on one page.

Markets and leverage

As of 1 October 2026 MEXC lists 1202 active perps, 93 of them stocks, commodities, FX or other real-world assets. HTX lists 370, of which 251 are real-world assets. MEXC has more markets in total. HTX has more real-world asset markets, and the RWA page lists perps on stocks, gold, commodities, FX and indices across exchanges.

MEXC allows up to 1000x on its highest-leverage market and HTX up to 200x. Most markets on both allow less, so check the limit of the specific market before you size a position.

Funding is the periodic payment between longs and shorts. A positive rate means longs pay shorts. MEXC pays every 1 hour, 4 hours, 8 hours or 24 hours depending on the market. HTX pays every 1 hour, 4 hours or 8 hours. An hourly market settles 24 times a day, an 8-hour market three times, and a 24-hour market once. The funding of a position you hold for days therefore depends on the interval of that market. The list further down this page shows the markets both exchanges have and each one's funding rate, and the funding arbitrage page ranks pairs by spread.

What each exchange asks for before you trade

MEXC requires KYC. Since February 2026 it must be done before trading, and an unverified account sees market data only.

HTX limits accounts 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 off. More leverage and the API need level-2 KYC.

Tokens

MEXC's token is $MX. HTX's token is $HTX.

Reading the numbers on this page

Both exchanges publish open interest as one side of open positions. The open interest row and chart above are therefore a like-for-like comparison of size, unlike pairs where one exchange counts longs plus shorts.

Neither exchange has a TVL row or chart, because centralized exchanges publish none. Those parts of the Head to head table stay empty for both. Volume, open interest, depth and funding are live and change every minute, so read them in the table and charts above rather than from this text.

Which one fits you

• Pick MEXC if you trade with market orders: 4 bp taker against 6 bp on HTX.
• Pick MEXC if you place resting limit orders: 1 bp maker against 2 bp.
• Pick MEXC if you want a wider list of perps (1202 against 370 as of 1 October 2026) or up to 1000x on a market.
• Pick HTX if you want more stock, commodity and FX markets: 251 real-world asset markets against 93.
• Pick HTX if you want to start trading before verifying, inside limits that KYC lifts.