Crypto exchange HashKey reported a loss exceeding HK$3.0 billion ($386 million) from 2022 through mid-2025, driven by investments in essential infrastructure. The company is seeking to raise as much as HK$1.67 billion in an IPO in Hong Kong.
This amount reflects the initial costs necessary for creating the custody, compliance, and on-chain services essential for a licensed exchange. In the first half of 2025, the exchange incurred a loss of HK$506.7 million, despite significant growth in users and assets, averaging a monthly burn of HK$40.9 million in the third quarter.
HashKey’s pitch to investors emphasizes the benefits provided by a regulated market framework. Key expenses, such as licensing and risk infrastructure, do not scale linearly with activity; thus, revenue from trading, staking, and management fees can increase more quickly than costs as client adoption grows. The exchange reported a jump in registered users to 1.44 million, up from fewer than 200 in 2022.
The filing underscores a strategic realignment in user types, noting a decline in retail trading volumes in early 2025, following drops in ether and other major assets, while institutional flows remained strong. HashKey Global, registered in Bermuda to attract retail clients, scaled back due to a lack of an effective on-ramp or off-ramp, which decreased its market competitiveness where local fiat systems are crucial.
The exchange has instead focused on its onshore platform, which provides licensed on-ramp and off-ramp solutions and has strengthened its ties to ETF flows and traditional financial institutions.
With cash reserves, digital assets, and anticipated IPO proceeds, the company projects over 70 months of liquidity, even under conservative projections.
HashKey competes with CoinDesk’s parent company, Bullish.
