Author: Yue Xiaoyu
HashKey officially launched its IPO on December 9, much earlier than expected.
Many people are observing whether to participate in HashKey's new share offering, so the question of how much HashKey is worth is a major concern for many.
This article will systematically evaluate it using the market capitalization benchmarking method.
1. Clarifying HashKey's Positioning
To assess how much HashKey is worth, we first need to understand what HashKey is, so we can find suitable benchmark references.
Firstly, HashKey benchmarks against the leading compliant exchange in the U.S., Coinbase, which is indeed the best reference.
However, upon deeper examination, HashKey is not just an exchange but a global full-stack giant with multiple business lines:
(1) HashKey Exchange: A system of exchanges with three locations, including Hong Kong, global, and Middle East stations, all compliant exchanges.
(2) HashKey OTC: Institutional-level compliant deposit and withdrawal + funding solutions, capable of compliant withdrawals that offshore exchanges cannot provide.
(3) HashKey Chain: An Ethereum Layer 2, primarily focused on scenarios such as institutional DeFi, RWA, and cross-border payments, which can be considered an institutional-level public chain.
(4) HashKey CaaS: Core components include Architect (tokenization services), Enhancer (yield services), and Guardian (security services), with many traditional institutions already using HashKey's blockchain services.
(5) HashKey Capital: Asia's leading crypto investment and asset management platform, having invested in Ethereum early on, with products covering primary markets + secondary markets + ETFs.
Thus, we can see that HashKey is the Eastern Coinbase, but it surpasses Coinbase by covering a more comprehensive range of businesses and leading in various business fields.
HashKey has already occupied an important ecological position in Hong Kong and the entire Chinese-speaking world, capable of capturing industry development dividends and policy support dividends, with a very high ceiling for future development.
2. Benchmarking Against Companies in the Same Field
According to HashKey's prospectus, let's first look at some key data:
Offer price: HKD 5.950–6.950
Number of shares issued: 241 million shares
The newly issued 241 million shares account for about 8.7%-10% of the total share capital, which is approximately 2.765 billion shares.
Total market capitalization: HKD 16.453 billion–19.218 billion
Based on the analysis of HashKey's positioning, I selected the top ten comprehensive exchanges globally:
(1) Binance
Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, holding nearly half of the market share, making it the absolute ceiling for exchanges.
Currently, Binance's platform token $BNB has a market capitalization of $120 billion. If HashKey's total market capitalization were the same, HashKey's price would be $44.36.
(2) Coinbase
Coinbase is already listed on NASDAQ, the first compliant exchange in the U.S., and the ceiling for compliant exchanges globally.
As the first compliant exchange in Hong Kong, Coinbase serves as a very good reference for HashKey.
Currently, Coinbase's stock market capitalization is $72 billion. If HashKey's total market capitalization were the same, HashKey's price would be $26.3.
(3) Kraken
Kraken is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges in the U.S. and is preparing for an IPO.
Currently, Kraken's latest valuation is $20 billion. If HashKey's total market capitalization were the same, HashKey's price would be $7.23.
(4) Crypto.com
Crypto.com is a globally recognized cryptocurrency exchange known for its sports sponsorships and rapid user growth, with an active platform token CRO.
Currently, Crypto.com's platform token $CRO has a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $10.45 billion. If HashKey's total market capitalization were the same, HashKey's price would be $3.78.
(5) Upbit
Upbit is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, holding over 80% of the market share, acquired by Naver Financial, making it a regional powerhouse.
Currently, Upbit's acquisition valuation is $10.3 billion. If HashKey's total market capitalization were the same, HashKey's price would be $3.73.
(6) Bybit
Bybit is a leading global derivatives exchange known for high-leverage trading and user experience, with a rapidly growing platform token MNT.
Currently, Bybit's platform token $MNT has an FDV of $6.81 billion. If HashKey's total market capitalization were the same, HashKey's price would be $2.46.
(7) OKX
OKX can be considered the second-largest Chinese exchange globally, with Web3 business as its biggest advantage, and is also preparing to list in the U.S.
Currently, OKX's platform token $OKB has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion. If HashKey's total market capitalization were the same, HashKey's price would be $0.82.
(8) Bitget
Currently, Bitget's platform token $BGB has an FDV of $3.26 billion. If HashKey's total market capitalization were the same, HashKey's price would be $1.18.
(9) Gate
Gate is a very established cryptocurrency exchange with a wide variety of listed tokens and a large global user base.
Currently, Gate's platform token $GT has an FDV of $3.12 billion. If HashKey's total market capitalization were the same, HashKey's price would be $1.13.
(10) KuCoin
KuCoin is also a very established exchange, with a product positioning similar to Gate, known for altcoins.
Currently, KuCoin's platform token $KCS has an FDV of $1.45 billion. If HashKey's total market capitalization were the same, HashKey's price would be $0.52.
3. Summary
HashKey's offering price is $0.76–0.89, with an IPO valuation of HKD 2.7–3.2 billion (approximately $350 million), resulting in a total market capitalization of $2.1–2.5 billion.
This pricing shows a significant gap compared to top exchanges Binance/Coinbase, which can be seen as the ceiling for the industry and the ceiling for compliant exchanges.
Compared to regional powerhouses like Crypto.com/Upbit, there is considerable upside potential.
Currently, HashKey's offering price is close to OKX, Bitget, and Gate, placing it in the same tier.
HashKey has a strong compliance advantage in Hong Kong, occupying an absolute ecological position, which is the deepest moat and the driving force for future growth.
After its listing on December 17, we can observe the market's actual pricing for HashKey, which represents the ceiling of the blockchain industry in Hong Kong.
Pricing HashKey is essentially pricing the Hong Kong blockchain industry.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
