Retail investors oversubscribe crypto exchange operator’s offering despite Beijing’s tough stance on virtual assets
Crypto exchange operator HashKey Holdings has launched its share sale in Hong Kong, testing investor appetite amid repeated warnings against virtual currencies by China’s central bank.
crypto pressure – Hong Kong’s largest licensed crypto player set its initial public offering (IPO) price range at HK$5.95 to HK$6.95 apiece for more than 240 million shares, according to a filing on Tuesday. The listing date is December 17.
With the price range, HashKey is eyeing up to HK$1.67 billion (US$214 million). In October, the firm was said to be aiming for US$500 million.
The People’s Bank of China has repeated its tough stance on cryptocurrency speculation, including stablecoins. It said it would maintain its ban on crypto trading and persistently crack down on illegal financial activities to guard against risks.
HashKey operates one of 11 virtual asset trading platforms recognised by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission. It is set to become the second crypto exchange operator to list in the city after OSL Group, following Hong Kong’s 2022 push to position itself as a global hub for digital assets. OSL shares have risen 18 per cent so far this month.
While cryptocurrencies remained volatile, licensed virtual asset platforms – with their revenue and profit records – allowed investors to make better judgements, helping support share price performance, said Kenny Ng Lai-yin, a strategist at Everbright Securities International.
Ng added that while Beijing’s regulatory stance would weigh on sentiment, Hong Kong offered “a relatively relaxed environment for law-compliant firms”.
The city’s Stablecoin Ordinance, which took effect on August 1, has been viewed as a test case for China’s offshore virtual asset trading regime.
On online trading platform Futubull, HashKey’s retail bookbuilding has attracted HK$1.85 billion in margin financing within half a day, about 11 times the 24 million shares available. Futu projected the retail tranche could be 23.7 times oversubscribed.
Founded in 2018, HashKey was the largest regional onshore platform in Asia, with more than a 75 per cent market share in Hong Kong in terms of 2024 trading volume, according to its IPO prospectus. It was also the largest provider of on-chain services in Asia and ranked eighth globally, with HK$29 billion of assets under staking across more than 80 protocols.
For the first half of the year, HashKey reported revenue of HK$284 million, down 26 per cent from a year earlier. It posted a net loss of HK$506 million, narrowing by 34 per cent over the same period.
HashKey said it planned to allocate 40 per cent of net proceeds to technology and infrastructure upgrades and 40 per cent to market expansion and collaboration with ecosystem partners.
