HashKey shares rose 3% Wednesday as they debuted on the Hong Kong stock exchange, after the crypto exchange raised $206 million in its initial public offering, at a time when crypto currencies have taken a beating.
HashKey, Hong Kong’s largest licensed crypto exchange, raised around 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars after pricing the IPO at HK$6.68 per share, near the higher end of the marketed range of HK$5.95 to HK$6.95.
While mainland China has imposed a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies since 2021, Hong Kong has been more receptive toward digital assets.
Key cornerstone investors included Fidelity, UBS, Chinese investment firm CDH Investments and Cithara Fund amongst others. JPMorgan and financial services firm Guotai Haitong were among the joint bookrunners.
“Our mission is to make digital assets massively accessible, and what we are doing is to create a compliant platform to connect our users with the digital assets industry,” HashKey Chief Financial Officer Eric Zhu told CNBC.
