HashKey is set to undergo its Initial Public Offering (IPO) and has gained a clearance from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) on Monday, December 1. The company had submitted a confidential filing with the HKEX in October sharing its ambition to raise up to $500 million through this IPO, Bloomberg had reported at the time.
In its prospectus submitted to the HKEX, HashKey highlighted that since being launched in August 2023, it has managed to secure 13 licences and registrations “across different jurisdictions”. It spotlighted its clear records as well, showing no significant security lapses leading to loss of user funds, calling its governance and risk management systems “mature”.
Elaborating on its prospectus the exchange said, “its prospectus has three core pillars: transaction facilitation, on-chain services and asset management services. Together, it forms an integrated business ecosystem covering the entire digital asset lifecycle putting the company in a leading position in Asia.”
According to data on its website, HashKey caters to a billion users internationally. The Hong Kong-registered exchange is presently operational in Singapore, Japan, and Bermuda as well.
In its official statement confirming the HKEX clearance HashKey said this IPO will work as a starting line for its next leg of international expansion.
“Capital flows will need to establish new channels of connections between East and West. With growing institutional demand, traditional financial institutions need compliant gateways while on-chain ecosystems need mature infrastructure support,” it said, outlining its expansion roadmap.
The company will now finalize the number of shares it plans to issue and the price range of these shares. JPMorgan and Guotai Junan International are reportedly working with HashKey to determine the final issue price of the shares and a decision on this is expected to be reached this month itself.
As per its confidential filing with the HKEX in October, the exchange had shared its intention of completing its IPO by this year itself, making inroads into Hong Kong’s capital markets that was valued at around $35.2 trillion as of October this year.
The public reaction to the development seemed mixed, with many pointing out HashKey’s losses mounting over a billion dollars last year. The exchange’s losses of over $507 million in the first half of this year is also being pointed out repeatedly on X.
Others, meanwhile, have lauded the development.
For now, the exact timeline of HashKey’s IPO remains awaited. U.S.-based Kraken has also recently filed an IPO in November – joining the elongating list of exchanges that have forayed into the public market this year.