HashKey Group, the owner of Hong Kong’s top licensed crypto exchange, has reportedly filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the city.
According to a Friday Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter, HashKey Group may be aiming for a listing in Hong Kong this year. The IPO could raise as much as $500 million, according to the sources cited in the report.
HashKey is Hong Kong’s top crypto exchange with a 24-hour volume of nearly $117 million at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko data. The exchange’s popularity has also made it a target for scammers.
According to reports in January, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) flagged 33 suspicious websites masquerading as HashKey, one of the city’s licensed cryptocurrency trading platforms, taking the total number of identified impersonators to 45. HashKey confirmed that it had no connection to any of the websites.
Hashkey had not responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment by publication.
Related: Hong Kong rules limit stablecoin derivatives trading: DBS CEO
Hong Kong, a rising crypto hub
Hong Kong tightened its crypto oversight in August with new custody rules that ban smart contracts in cold wallets and impose stricter security standards, followed days later by an SFC warning that the fresh stablecoin framework was fueling fraud risks. In September, DBS Hong Kong’s chief said the city’s stablecoin rules would essentially block onchain derivatives trading.
In early September, local media reported that Chinese regulators were preparing to restrict mainland state-owned enterprises and banks from pursuing stablecoin and cryptocurrency initiatives in Hong Kong; however, the report has since been removed.
Related: Animoca and Standard Chartered form stablecoin venture in Hong Kong
HashKey is more than just an exchange
In September, HashKey launched a $500 million Digital Asset Treasury fund, with its CEO arguing that disciplined crypto treasuries will “survive any market.” In April, Hong Kong approved HashKey to offer staking services, with the aim of providing Ether (ETH) staking services for spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The company raised $30 million from Chinese venture capital firm Gaorong Ventures at a $1.5 billion valuation in mid-February. This followed HashKey becoming a so-called unicorn by exceeding a $1 billion valuation in mid-January after raising almost $100 million in a funding round at a pre-money valuation of over $1.2 billion.
Magazine: China mocks US crypto policies, Telegram’s new dark markets: Asia Express
