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HashKey claims ‘unicorn status’ after raising US$100 million for one of Hong Kong’s two licensed cryptocurrency exchanges

  • Existing and new investors took part in its new Series A round, giving HashKey a pre-money valuation of US$1.2 billion, HashKey Group said
  • OKX Ventures is one of the lead investors in HashKey’s funding round, Bloomberg reported

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A view of HashKey Group’s booth during the 2021 Hong Kong FinTech Week at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 3 November 2021. Photo: Shutterstock.
Xinmei Shen

HashKey Group, the company behind one of Hong Kong’s two cryptocurrency exchanges approved to serve retail investors, said it raised nearly US$100 million in a funding round that valued it at more than US$1 billion, making it a so-called unicorn company.

Existing and new investors took part in its new Series A round, giving HashKey a pre-money valuation of US$1.2 billion, the Hong Kong-based company said in a statement on Tuesday, without disclosing any names.

OKX Ventures, the investment arm of OKX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges and an applicant for Hong Kong’s virtual asset exchange license, is one of the lead investors in HashKey’s funding round, Bloomberg reported. HashKey and OKX both declined to comment.

HashKey operates the licensed HashKey Exchange, the HashKey Capital venture capital and asset management arm and other blockchain technology services. It will use the funding to “solidify” its web3 ecosystem, diversify its licensed product offerings in Hong Kong and develop its business globally, it said.

HashKey Group, established in Hong Kong in 2018, was approved by the Securities and Futures Commission last August to serve retail investors under the city’s new regime for centralised cryptocurrency exchanges.

The exchange attracted 15,500 registered users at the end of 2023, with daily trading volume exceeding US$630 million in December, HashKey said last month. Nearly 40 per cent of the value traded on its platform came from professional investors, it said.

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