Hong Kong’s Largest Licensed Crypto Exchange HashKey Wins HKEX Listing Committee Approval, Paving the Way for a Potential $500 Million IPO

HashKey Edges Toward A Hong Kong IPO As Listing Review Clears The Way

Momentum is building around HashKey Holdings as the crypto group moves closer to becoming one of Hong Kong’s next publicly listed digital-asset companies.

After months of confidential preparations, the firm has now passed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s listing hearing – a key checkpoint that determines whether an applicant is ready to proceed with a public offer.

What The Listing Hearing Approval Means For HashKey

The hearing, conducted by HKEX’s listing committee, reviews applications, regulatory compliance and any issues that could affect a company’s suitability for the market.

Clearing this stage allows HashKey to advance to prospectus registration, followed by marketing, book-building and eventually, pricing.

HashKey confirmed the update in its Post Hearing Information Pack released on 1 December, but kept quiet on the size and timing of the IPO.

Bloomberg previously reported the firm is targeting up to $500 million in proceeds this year, although HashKey has declined to comment.

How HashKey Plans To Use Its Future IPO Funds

The company has already outlined where it intends to direct the money once it goes public.

HashKey said the funds would be channelled into upgrading its technology stack, developing new products, improving security systems, expanding into new markets and supporting general operations.

The company stated in its filing,

“Our net losses and operating cash outflows during the Track Record Period primarily reflect the nature of our business development cycle and the substantial upfront investments required to establish a licensed, compliant and scalable digital asset platform.”

JPMorgan and Guotai Junan Securities have been appointed as sponsors for the offering.

Source: HashKey

Dominant Market Share But Big Losses

HashKey operates Hong Kong’s largest licensed crypto exchange and controls roughly 75 percent of the city’s regulated trading market.

Trading on its Hong Kong platform surged to HK$638.4 billion (about $82 billion) in 2024 – double the prior year as both institutions and retail users grew.

However, its aggressive fee strategy pushed earnings into the red.

With most trading charged below 0.1 percent, the exchange reported a net loss of more than $151 million (HK$1.18 billion) in 2024.

Losses continued into 2025, with a HK$506.7 million ($65 million) deficit in the first six months, though narrower than the HK$772.6 million recorded in the same period of 2024.

Source: HashKey

HashKey’s Bermuda-based global exchange fared worse.

Trading sank from roughly $23 billion in early 2024 to just $1.4 billion a year later due to the lack of an on-off-ramp and reduced marketing.

Are HashKey’s Other Business Lines Enough?

The company has tried to broaden beyond trading, but the latest filing shows modest progress.

Tokenisation revenue came in at about HK$7.0 million in 2024, sliding to HK$1.1 million in the first half of 2025.

Its Web3 events business, driven largely by its Hong Kong conference, generated HK$37.1 million in 2024 and HK$23.7 million in the first half of 2025 – notable, but still small compared with its core platform.

Source: HashKey

The filing paints a picture of a company with strong market reach but a business model still searching for sustainable balance.

How HashKey Fits Into Asia’s Expanding Crypto IPO Pipeline

HashKey’s push to list comes as more Asian crypto platforms explore public markets.

Earlier this year, the company’s valuation rose to $1.5 billion after a $30 million investment from Gaorong Ventures.

Across the region, South Korea’s Upbit is said to be weighing a Nasdaq listing, while Thailand’s Bitkub is preparing a Hong Kong IPO by 2026 after a failed domestic attempt.

Should HashKey succeed, it would join OSL as the second listed crypto exchange in Hong Kong.

OSL shares slipped 7.6 percent on 1 December during afternoon trading, according to Yahoo Finance data, as investors assessed the prospect of a new competitor entering the public market.