Shares of HashKey Holdings fell about 5% in their trading debut in Hong Kong, a muted reception that underscores investors’ caution toward the exchange’s business model despite its dominant position in the city’s regulated crypto market.
The stock opened below its IPO price and slipped to around HK$6.34 by mid-morning. The decline follows the release of prospectuses earlier in December showing heavy losses but rapid growth in users and activity.
The IPO comes at a time when bitcoin has retreated from its all-time high earlier this year, to trade around $87,000, depressing the valuation of most crypto-related stocks around the world.
HashKey controls about three-quarters of Hong Kong’s licensed crypto trading market and has processed more than $81.8 billion (HK$638 billion) in volume in 2024, according to the prospectus.
But its ultra-low fee strategy, with fees well below 0.1%, has kept revenue growth well behind operating costs related to licensing, custody, compliance and infrastructure. The exchange reported cumulative net losses of around US$385 million (HK$3.0 billion) between 2022 and mid-2025, with monthly cash burn remaining high.
Investors seem to be wondering whether scale alone can correct this imbalance. Early trading suggests the market is reserving judgment, awaiting clearer evidence that fees can increase or that higher-margin services can make a meaningful contribution.
These weak starts could also reflect a more restrained growth scenario. HashKey has withdrawn from offshore retail markets, shuttering its Bermuda-registered entity, and is increasingly tied to Hong Kong’s regulatory framework, making its prospects more dependent on local politics, institutional participation and capital market activity than broader crypto cycles.
HashKey is a competitor to CoinDesk’s parent company, Bullish.
(UPDATE, December 15, 2:52 a.m. UTC): Adds broader market context.
