HashKey has emerged as Hong Kong’s largest licensed cryptocurrency exchange, but its IPO filing reveals that the company is paying dearly for its position.
Hashkey processed a trading volume of HK$638.4 billion (about $82 billion) in 2024, as the Hong Kong platform scaled up for both institutional investors and retail users, according to a filing published on the Hong Kong exchange on Monday. This is approximately double the number from the previous year.
The company’s fees remain below 0.1%, reflecting a pricing strategy that prioritizes market share over revenue. Hashkey controls about 75% of the Hong Kong market, but its race-to-the-bottom fee approach resulted in a net loss of more than $151 million (HK$1.18 billion) in 2024. This will likely be a focus for investors evaluating the company’s IPO.
Hashkey’s Bermuda exchange was founded as a global exchange offering a broader range of assets, but trading volume has fallen from about $23 billion in the first half of 2024 to about $1.4 billion a year later. The filing attributes this decline to a lack of on-off ramp capability until late 2025 and a strategic setback in marketing.
HashKey is working on tokenization, staking, and Web3 events to diversify its business, but the IPO filing shows that these policies are still far from meaningful.
Revenues from tokenization amounted to only about $900,000 (HK$7 million) in 2024, but declined to about $140,000 (HK$1.1 million) in the first half of 2025.
Web3 events, primarily from a conference held in Hong Kong in the spring, brought in approximately US$4.8 million (HK$37.1 million) in 2024 and approximately US$3 million (HK$23.7 million) in the first half of 2025, making it one of HashKey’s largest sources of non-trade revenue, although it remains small compared to HashKey’s core exchange business.
The filing shows a diversified exchange with significant traction in the market, but the business model is still working to find a sustainable footing.
Hashkey’s dominance in Hong Kong’s licensing market highlights the platform’s reach, but its thin fees, modest new business lines and reduced offshore activity highlight the financial pressures surrounding a listing. It will be up to investors to decide whether that is a viable path forward.
HashKey is a competitor of CoinDesk’s parent company, Bullish.
