Among HashKey’s stated plans for the incoming capital are investments in its asset management, node validation, tokenization, and Web3 incubator services.
The Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange HashKey has achieved “unicorn” status after successfully obtaining $100 million in a Series A investment round. The company was valued at over $1.2 billion before the funding was secured.
Despite failing to reveal their names, HashKey said on January 16 that the investment round included “prominent institutional investors” and “leading Web3 institutions” among its backers.
The venture capital industry uses the word “unicorn” to denote a business valued above $1 billion, and its stated pre-money valuation would place it in that category.
Asset management, a service to validate blockchain nodes, a service to tokenize assets, and a Web3 incubation arm are the business arms that the exchange indicated will get the funding.
Meanwhile, OKX Ventures, the investment arm of cryptocurrency exchange OKX, was mentioned as one of the key investors in a Bloomberg article dated January 16 that cited sources familiar with the subject. HashKey made no remarks about the incident.
Bloomberg previously reported in May that HashKey was reportedly in the early stages of negotiations to fund $200 million, with a value above $1 billion.
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong granted HashKey an exchange license in August, continuing the region’s efforts to court cryptocurrency companies. Along with OSL, it is one of the two exchanges that retail investors in Hong Kong have access to.
Spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are now possible because of regulations loosened by the SFC and the HKMA. According to an interview with Livio Weng, COO of HashKey, published on January 10 by the Chinese media site Caixin, ten companies are planning to provide spot ETFs.
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