Essential Insights
HashKey aims to be Hong Kong’s inaugural fully crypto-native IPO by offering 240.57 million shares in accordance with the city’s virtual asset regulatory framework.
The business encompasses more than just a spot exchange, integrating trading, custody, institutional staking, asset management, and tokenization into one regulated platform.
While revenue is on the rise, the company is still facing losses due to substantial investments in technology, compliance, and market growth.
The majority of IPO proceeds are targeted toward funding infrastructure and international expansion, branding the listing as a long-term investment in regulated digital asset markets.
HashKey intends to be the pioneering crypto exchange available for local Hong Kong investors in the stock market. The firm has submitted an application for an initial public offering (IPO) that could establish it as the city’s first publicly listed, fully crypto-native platform under the new virtual asset regime. It plans to offer 240.57 million shares, with a portion set aside for local retail investors.
The shares are being offered within the range of 5.95-6.95 Hong Kong dollars, which could accumulate to 1.67 billion HKD, roughly $215 million, potentially suggesting a multibillion-dollar valuation if fully subscribed.
Trading is anticipated to commence on December 17 on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
HashKey currently operates what it claims is Hong Kong’s “largest licensed platform,” a comprehensive ecosystem that includes custody, institutional staking, and tokenization. In its recent filing, the group reported managing tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars in staking assets and platform assets.
In the upcoming sections, we will explore what the business entails, how its financials stack up, the intended use of IPO proceeds, and the significance of this listing for Hong Kong’s broader virtual asset aspirations.
Did you know? Some analysts regard HashKey’s IPO as a real-time evaluation of public market enthusiasm for heavily regulated crypto infrastructure.
Why HashKey’s IPO could be pivotal for Hong Kong
HashKey represents one of the first significant efforts to present Hong Kong’s new virtual asset regulations to public equity investors. The exchange intends to offer 240.57 million shares in total, with 24.06 million reserved for local investors and the remainder for international buyers, capped at a maximum offer price of 6.95 HKD per share.
Final pricing is expected on December 16, 2025, with trading set to begin the following day under the proposed stock code 3887. If fully subscribed at the highest range, it could yield up to 1.67 billion HKD, approximately $215 million, positioning HashKey among Asia’s most notable listed crypto-focused enterprises.
This listing is also a significant milestone in Hong Kong’s quest to regain its status as a digital asset hub after years of regulatory uncertainty. The city has established a dedicated licensing regime for both retail and institutional crypto platforms in the past two years, allowing for tightly regulated staking services and enhancing custody requirements and stablecoin oversight.
HashKey provides a preliminary, detailed view of what a fully regulated, multi-faceted crypto business could look like within that framework.
The IPO may act as a real-time gauge of investor appetite for compliance-focused crypto infrastructure, especially as mainland China continues to impose stringent limitations on many digital asset activities. Beijing has already taken steps to halt some large tech-backed stablecoin projects in the city: Hong Kong’s experiment does have political constraints.
The performance of HashKey after its public debut could serve as an early signal of whether those constraints provide sufficient scope for a profitable, publicly traded crypto exchange to thrive.
Did you know? HashKey Group boasts support from established institutional investors, including those associated with Wanxiang, giving it a more traditional finance profile compared to many offshore exchanges.
What business is actually going public?
Formally, HashKey Holdings is an exchange IPO. However, investors are being presented with a broader crypto infrastructure stack that has already been vetted and approved under Hong Kong’s regulatory framework.
At its core is HashKey Exchange, a trading platform based in Hong Kong that is licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) under Type 1 and Type 7 licenses for dealing in and operating a virtual asset trading platform. It facilitates spot trading, over-the-counter services, and fiat on- and off-ramps in HKD and USD. The company positions itself as Hong Kong’s largest licensed venue for both retail and professional clients.
Surrounding this is a more extensive ecosystem. HashKey Cloud offers institutional staking and node services, and the company states it has gained approval to support staking for Hong Kong’s spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs). According to its filings, HashKey was managing approximately 29 billion HKD in staked assets by the end of the third quarter of 2025, marking it as one of Asia’s largest staking providers and a significant player globally.
The group also features an asset management division providing crypto funds and venture strategies. Based on its filings, it reported approximately 7.8 billion HKD in assets under management as of September 30, 2025. Furthermore, it has ventured into tokenization through HashKey Chain, a network focused on real-world assets (RWAs), stablecoins, and institutional applications. The company has reported around 1.7 billion HKD in onchain RWAs within the network.
Lastly, HashKey is enhancing crypto-as-a-service tools and pursuing licenses across various markets, including Singapore, Dubai, Japan, Bermuda, and parts of Europe. This suggests that the IPO is intended to facilitate international growth and a white-label infrastructure model, rather than solely focusing on a singular market in Hong Kong.
Did you know? According to HashKey’s disclosures, its RWA network has already tokenized over 1 billion HKD worth of real-world assets onchain, encompassing products like structured notes and private credit.
Revenue, losses, and the “compliance-first” strategy
HashKey exemplifies a typical growth-stage model: Revenue has surged, but the business remains cash-negative as it pours resources into expansion, licensing, and compliance. Total revenue jumped from about 129 million HKD in 2022 to 721 million HKD in 2024, reflecting a more than 4.5x increase over two years, coinciding with the launch of its Hong Kong and Bermuda exchanges and rising trading activity.
However, this growth hasn’t translated into profitability yet. A review of the filing indicates net losses nearly doubled during the same timeframe, climbing from 585.2 million HKD in 2022 to 1.19 billion HKD in 2024, driven by increased spending on technology, workforce, compliance, and marketing.
Trading volumes escalated from 4.2 billion HKD in 2022 to 638.4 billion HKD in 2024; however, a low-fee approach and the costs of operating licensed venues across different jurisdictions kept profits far out of reach.
Recent figures suggest that the outlook might be improving. In the first half of 2025, HashKey reported a net loss of 506.7 million HKD, a decrease from the 772.6 million HKD loss experienced in the same period a year earlier.
The company views these losses as the necessary investments in building a licensed, compliant, and scalable digital asset platform ahead of market cycles. It contends that the lengthy and costly development phase is akin to the preceding trajectory of early exchange leaders before they reached profitability.
How HashKey intends to utilize IPO proceeds
HashKey has clearly outlined its plans for the newly raised capital.
Approximately 40% of the net proceeds are designated for technology and infrastructure upgrades over the next three to five years. This includes expanding HashKey Chain and enhancing the exchange’s matching engine, as well as reinforcing custody, security, and back-office systems. Company statements also highlight derivatives, yield products, and enhanced institutional tools as specific growth areas, aimed at bringing HashKey closer to the comprehensive product suite offered by larger international exchanges.
Another 40% is allotted to market expansion and ecosystem partnerships. In effect, this means intensifying efforts to penetrate new markets and scaling crypto-as-a-service offerings that allow banks, brokers, and fintechs to connect to HashKey’s custody and trading framework via APIs, rather than developing the complete infrastructure internally. The company’s discussions around overseas licensing and institutional partnerships suggest it seeks to set itself apart from exchanges primarily reliant on retail activity.
The remaining 20% is divided between operations and risk management (10%) and general corporate purposes (10%), covering areas such as recruitment, enhancing compliance and internal controls, and maintaining financial flexibility to adapt to market conditions.
What’s on the horizon?
As December progresses, three key aspects to monitor include:
The pricing of the deal and the subsequent trading performance of the shares
Whether HashKey can convert its complete stack—including exchange, custody, staking, and tokenization—into consistent, diversified revenue
The firmness with which Hong Kong maintains its licensed yet open stance regarding digital assets.
If HashKey executes its plans effectively, it could provide clearer pathways for other exchanges, banks, and tokenization initiatives aiming to go public in the city. Conversely, any struggles could highlight the practical limitations of Hong Kong’s virtual asset experimentation.
