# HTX trading API vs Hyperliquid

> Hyperliquid scores 50 (D) to HTX trading's 43.3 (E) for exchange market data. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-hyperliquid
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-hyperliquid.md (~3,750 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-03

Hyperliquid scores 50 (D) on agent readiness against HTX trading API's 43.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. HTX trading API leads on maintenance & community. Both do exchange market data.

- HTX trading API: grade E, 43.3/100, rank #1166 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/htx.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/htx.json
- Hyperliquid: grade D, 50/100, rank #1018 of 1349. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hyperliquid.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hyperliquid.json
- Best crypto exchange APIs and MCP servers for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/crypto-exchanges/index.md
- All 210 exchanges comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crypto-exchanges/index.md

## Which one, for what

### HTX trading API (E)

Good for: Spot and USDT-margined derivatives for agents that can hold an HTX key, with no MCP server and no testnet.

Ahead on:
- Maintenance & community, 57 against 39

Watch for: No official MCP server; the only one in the MCP registry is a third party's read-only ticker server

### Hyperliquid (D)

Good for: An agent trading perpetuals or spot on chain from its own wallet with no account, or acting for a master account through an approved API wallet.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 64 against 51
- Payments & pricing, 55 against 15

Watch for: No official MCP server; the 23 registry entries are all third parties, several selling data by x402


## Why the edge

### Payments & pricing: Hyperliquid +40

- HTX trading API (15): No machine payment protocol (0). The fee schedule at htx.com/fee is drawn by script and answered no text, so no price is recorded first-hand (0 of 20, unchecked). Public market data needs no key, card or account; trading needs a verified and funded account. Judgement call (15 of 20). A person must sign up in a browser and pass identity checks (0). 0 + 0 + 15 + 0 = 15.
- Hyperliquid (55): No machine payment protocol (0). Fees published per tier without login (20). No card anywhere; public info endpoints are free and the testnet faucet gives 1,000 mock USDC, though only to an address that has deposited on mainnet (15 of 20). No signup; an agent with a funded EVM wallet deposits USDC on a bridged chain and trades, subject to the unread terms (20). Total 55.

### Maintenance & community: HTX trading API +18

- HTX trading API (57): Read as a closed service. The readable changelog ends on 24 June 2022, but the official contract SDKs were pushed on 21 October 2026 and the spot SDKs in April and July 2026, so the API surface is still being maintained; judgement call (20 of 30). SDK pushes on 30 July, 23 August and 21 October 2026 are commits, not releases (10 of 20). A Telegram group for API support and a support centre, neither tested; GitHub issues not read (8 of 15). Official SDKs in five languages (15). No CI seen, dependencies not checked (4 of 10). 20 + 10 + 8 + 15 + 4 = 57.
- Hyperliquid (39): Read as a closed hosted service with open SDKs. The API has no dated changelog, so the last dated change is the Python SDK's 0.24.0 on 4 June 2026, 152 days before this check; the node repository was pushed on 10 August 2026 and the docs describe newer actions (HIP-4 outcome markets, borrow and lend) without dates. Judgement call (10 of 30). No three dated releases in 90 days (0). Support through Discord and the docs' FAQ, 112 open issues on the SDK whose replies couldn't be read (8 of 25). Official Python and Rust SDKs, the Rust one last pushed 21 October 2025; no MCP registry entry (15). CI on Python 3.9 and 3.13 with Poetry, Dependabot badge, a lock file (6 of 10). Total 39.

### Security & auth: Hyperliquid +13

- HTX trading API (51): HMAC-signed keys with Read, Trade and Withdraw permissions, sub-user keys without Withdraw, up to 20 bound IPs, revocation in the account and a 90-day expiry without IP binding. The AccessKeyId and the HMAC signature travel as query parameters; the secret does not, so no deduction for a secret in the URL (24 of 30). Read-only keys and withdraw-free keys exist; no server-side confirmation for orders or withdrawals (14 of 20). The API returns the exchange's own data, no untrusted content (10). No per-call log or key-use history found for the operator (3 of 15). No security.txt, disclosure policy or certification found on the pages that loaded (0 of 20). 24 + 14 + 10 + 3 + 0 = 51.
- Hyperliquid (64): No shared secrets. Actions are signed by the wallet key or by an API wallet the master approves with a name and optional expiry; API wallets can only sign, withdrawals and external sends are user-signed, and approving a new wallet deregisters the old. No IP allow-list or address allow-list (24 of 30). An API wallet is a trading-only credential and info needs no key, but nothing limits order size or marks an action as needing approval (10 of 20). The API returns no untrusted content (10). Fills, historical orders, `userRole` and nonces are queryable per account; no per-wallet action log (8 of 15). A bug bounty run by the Hyper Foundation with rewards up to under 1 million USDC, a Zellic audit of the bridge contract, a SECURITY.md on the SDK; no security.txt (403), no SOC 2 (12 of 20). Total 64.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | HTX trading API | Hyperliquid | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 38 | 40 | Hyperliquid +2 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 40 | 42 | Hyperliquid +2 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 70 | Hyperliquid +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 51 | 64 | Hyperliquid +13 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 15 | 55 | Hyperliquid +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 57 | 39 | HTX trading API +18 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 25 | 26 | Hyperliquid +1 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **43.3 · E** | **50 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | HTX trading API | Hyperliquid |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | HTX | Hyperliquid Labs |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | The exchange runs on the Hyperliquid chain (HyperCore), whose node is distributed as a binary under an Apache-2.0 repository; the Python and Rust SDKs are MIT. The API servers and front end are closed |
| Tools exposed | 0 | 0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-21 | 2026-06-04 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 684 stars | 1.9k stars, 167k PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**HTX trading API.** HTX's API has per-endpoint rate limits, read, trade and withdraw key permissions with IP binding, and SDKs in five languages. No official MCP server exists, the testnet is closed, the public reference is still Huobi's with a 2022 changelog, and the fee schedule, terms and restricted countries are on script-drawn pages we couldn't read.

**Hyperliquid.** Hyperliquid's API needs no signup or key, an approved API wallet can trade but not withdraw, fees and rate limits are published with numbers, and a testnet mirrors mainnet. There is no official MCP server, OpenAPI file, status page, changelog or readable terms, and signing uses two schemes the docs say to leave to an SDK.

## Before you call either

### HTX trading API

1. Ask the operator for a key with Read and Trade only and bound to your IP addresses; a key without IP binding expires after 90 days
2. Send a fresh client-order-id of up to 64 characters with every order and reuse it only on retry; a repeat within 8 hours answers invalid.client.order.id
3. Watch X-HB-RateLimit-Requests-Remain and pace at under 100 order calls per 2 seconds per UID; limits are shared by every key on the account
4. There is no testnet; try order logic with the smallest size the market allows
5. Confirm the person's country is served before trading; the restricted list in the user agreement couldn't be read here

### Hyperliquid

1. Generate a fresh API wallet, approve it with `approveAgent` with a name and expiry, sign with it, and query with the master address, never the agent address
2. Use the Python SDK's `sign_l1_action` and `sign_user_signed_action`; mixing the two, field order in msgpack or an uppercase address gives "User or API Wallet ... does not exist"
3. Set a `cloid` on every order and read the per-order `statuses` array; one batch-level error rejects the whole batch
4. Budget address limits by volume (one action per 1 USDC traded after 10,000); batch orders to lower IP weight, and use WebSocket for data
5. Arm `scheduleCancel` before unattended trading so open orders are cancelled if the agent stops

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, HTX trading API or Hyperliquid?

Hyperliquid scores 50 (D) on agent readiness against HTX trading API's 43.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. HTX trading API leads on maintenance & community.

### Do HTX trading API and Hyperliquid need an API key?

HTX trading API needs an API key. Hyperliquid takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call HTX trading API and Hyperliquid without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for HTX trading API. No hosted endpoint is listed for Hyperliquid.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-hyperliquid.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-hyperliquid.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "htx", "b": "hyperliquid"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare htx hyperliquid`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/htx.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hyperliquid.json

## Other comparisons with HTX trading API or Hyperliquid

- [Bitfinex API vs HTX trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-htx.md)
- [Bitfinex API vs Hyperliquid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitfinex-vs-hyperliquid.md)
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- [HTX trading API vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-kraken.md)
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- [HTX trading API vs Upbit Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/htx-vs-upbit.md)
- [Hyperliquid vs Upbit Open API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-upbit.md)
- [Binance API vs HTX trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/binance-vs-htx.md)
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- [Coinbase Advanced Trade API vs HTX trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-advanced-trade-vs-htx.md)
- [Coinbase Advanced Trade API vs Hyperliquid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-advanced-trade-vs-hyperliquid.md)
- [Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents) vs HTX trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-mcp-vs-htx.md)
- [Coinbase MCP server (Coinbase for Agents) vs Hyperliquid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coinbase-mcp-vs-hyperliquid.md)
- [Hyperliquid vs Uniswap Trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-uniswap.md)
- [Deribit vs HTX trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deribit-vs-htx.md)
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- [dYdX vs HTX trading API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/dydx-vs-htx.md)
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- [Hyperliquid vs Kraken API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-kraken.md)
- [Hyperliquid vs KuCoin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-kucoin.md)
- [Hyperliquid vs MEXC API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-mexc.md)
- [Hyperliquid vs OKX API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hyperliquid-vs-okx.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp