Cryptocurrency exchange HTX has announced the start of the second season of its trading championship. The competition will run from February 11 to March 23, 2026, with a total prize pool of $1.5 million, according to a press release.

The championship features three formats: a points competition ($400,000), a trading challenge ($500,000), and a team battle ($600,000). The first season took place in the fall of 2025 and attracted over 90,000 traders with a total trading volume exceeding 14 billion USDT.

Points Competition: Physical Gold Worth $400,000

The series kicks off with a points competition running from February 11 to 21. This campaign coincides with the Chinese New Year: participants earn "New Year lanterns" for spot and futures trades, which can be exchanged for physical gold prizes.

The competition is divided into three task levels: first participation, silver, and platinum. Lanterns are awarded after the first spot trade of at least 100 USDT, the first futures trade of at least 1,000 USDT, or a transfer of at least 1,000 USDT to the USDT-M account.

At the platinum level, a spot volume of 10 million USDT earns 700 lanterns, while a futures volume of 300 million USDT can yield up to 3,800 lanterns. The maximum for a single participant is 6,226 lanterns. They must be redeemed by February 28, after which any unused points will expire.

Prize table:

  • 5,000 lanterns — 20g investment gold bar (≈$3,000);
  • 3,000 lanterns — 10g commemorative HTX gold coin (≈$2,000);
  • 1,500 lanterns — 6g gold jewelry (≈$1,000);
  • 600 lanterns — 3g gold pendant (≈$500);
  • 350 lanterns — 1.7g gold nugget (≈$300);
  • 200 lanterns — 0.8g gold nugget (≈$100).

Users registering as the 8th, 88th, 888th, and 8888th will receive a special prize — a "Golden Fortune Bead."

Trading Challenge with $500,000 Prize Pool

The trading challenge will take place from February 21 to March 8. The prize pool is evenly split between spot and futures categories, with each receiving $250,000 in HTX tokens.

Participants will be ranked based on three metrics: trading volume, absolute profit (PnL), and percentage return (PnL%). This approach allows both large investors and traders with smaller capital to compete.

Prize distribution based on trading volume ($140,000 for each track):

  • 1st place — 25% of the fund;
  • 2nd place — 15%;
  • 3rd place — 10%;
  • 4th–10th places — 30% proportionally based on volume;
  • all other participants — 20% proportionally based on volume.

For the PnL and PnL% rankings, $50,000 will be awarded for each track with a similar structure. Minimum requirements for spot trading are a volume of at least 1,000 USDT (volume ranking) or 3,000 USDT (PnL/PnL% rankings). For futures, the requirements are 20,000 and 10,000 USDT, respectively.

New and returning users (without trades in the last 30 days) will receive a triple multiplier for volume, PnL, and PnL%. New users will earn $3 in HTX tokens for their first trade of at least 100 USDT.

Team Battle with $600,000 Prize Pool

Team formation for the team battle will open on February 21, with the trading period running from March 8 to 23. The prize pool is $600,000 in HTX tokens, divided between spot and futures tracks.

For spot trading, a team must consist of at least three participants, while futures trading requires at least five. The maximum team size is 100 members. The minimum balance to create or join a team is 100 USDT.

Teams will be ranked based on three metrics: trading volume (the top 20 teams will share $200,000 on each track), PnL, and PnL% (the top 10 teams will share $50,000 each). New and returning users will also receive a triple multiplier.

Previously, ForkLog reported on the first season of the HTX trading championship, which had a prize pool exceeding $1 million.