HashKey has become Hong Kong’s largest licensed crypto exchange, but its IPO filing reveals a company is paying a lot for the position.
According to filings with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday, HashKey processed a trading volume of 638.4 billion Hong Kong dollars (about $82 billion) in 2024, about double the previous year, as its Hong Kong platform expanded among institutional and retail users.
The company’s fees remain below 0.1 percent, reflecting a pricing strategy that prioritizes market share over revenue. While HashKey controls about 75% of the Hong Kong market, its race to the bottom approach contributed to a net loss of more than US$151 million (HK$1.18 billion) in 2024. This will likely be a focal point for investors evaluating the company’s IPO.
HashKey’s Bermuda exchange, launched as a global platform offering a broader set of assets, has seen trading volumes collapse from around $23 billion in the first half of 2024 to around $1.4 billion a year later. The filing attributes this decline to a lack of on-ramp capacity through the end of 2025 and a strategic withdrawal from marketing.
HashKey has dabbled in tokenization, staking, and Web3 events to diversify its business, but the IPO filing shows these lines are still far from significant.
Tokenization revenue only reached around $0.9 million (HK$7.0 million) in 2024, then dropped to around $140,000 (HK$1.1 million) in the first half of 2025.
Web3 events – largely thanks to its conference in Hong Kong in the spring – brought in about US$4.8 million (HK$37.1 million) in 2024 and about US$3.0 million (HK$23.7 million) in the first half of 2025, making it one of HashKey’s largest non-trading revenue lines, although still small compared to its core exchange business.
The filing presents a diverse exchange with significant market traction, but the business model is still looking to find a sustainable footing.
HashKey’s dominance of Hong Kong’s licensing market highlights the reach of its platform, but its low fees, modest new business lines and dwindling offshore activity highlight the financial pressures around the listing. It’s now up to investors to decide whether this is a viable path forward.
HashKey is a competitor to CoinDesk’s parent company, Bullish.
