Author: Nancy, PANews
After seven years of entrepreneurship, the cryptocurrency exchange HashKey has officially opened the door to traditional capital markets with a ringing bell.
On December 17, HashKey was officially listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, marking the first public offering in Asia's digital asset sector. Starting from automotive parts, the Wanxiang Group has developed into a major player in various listed companies, and its years of dedication to the blockchain field have finally borne fruit. Under the leadership of Xiao Feng, known as the "Godfather of Chinese Crypto," HashKey has created a compliant listing model that can serve as a reference for the cryptocurrency industry.
Preparation for Listing Began Five Years Ago, Wanxiang's Leader is the Major Shareholder
"Since its establishment in Hong Kong in 2018, the company has been preparing for its listing." Now, with HashKey officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, it has become the first publicly traded company in Asia's digital asset sector.
After the listing ceremony, Dr. Xiao Feng, Chairman and CEO of HashKey, stated that digital assets are still an emerging industry. Meeting the auditing and compliance standards required for listing takes a longer time for institutional and business refinement. Therefore, this successful listing is not accidental but rather a result of "natural progression."
In Xiao Feng's view, listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is a new starting point. Although HashKey originated from a mainland team, it has developed into a homegrown Hong Kong company. In the future, it will take root in Hong Kong, adhere to a compliant path, and practice the strategic direction of "upholding the foundation of one country and making good use of the benefits of two systems," continuously enhancing its infrastructure capabilities and strengthening key abilities such as security, custody, on-chain execution, and on-chain compliance.
The successful listing of HashKey is a result of Wanxiang Group's years of investment in the blockchain sector.
The largest shareholder of HashKey is Lu Weiding, the first controlling shareholder, who directly holds over 40% of the shares, giving him absolute control over HashKey. This year, Lu Weiding made it onto the Forbes Global Billionaires List with a fortune of $3.8 billion. Born in 1971, Lu Weiding is the son of Lu Guanqu, a traditional Zhejiang businessman and founder of Wanxiang Group. In the last century, Lu Guanqu led six farmers to start a blacksmith shop with an initial capital of 4,000 yuan, which became the starting point for Wanxiang Group.
Lu Weiding, Chairman and CEO of Wanxiang Group, delivers a speech at the Hong Kong Web3 Festival 2025
After Lu Guanqu's passing in October 2017, Lu Weiding officially took over as Chairman of Wanxiang Group. As Lu Guanqu's only son, Lu Weiding became the president of Wanxiang Group at the age of 23 and an executive director of Wanxiang Holdings Limited at 30. Lu Weiding has made significant achievements in business operations, finance, and capital operations, planning Wanxiang's financial layout beyond its industrial ventures. Wanxiang Group has invested in or holds stakes in Wanxiang Trust, Minsheng Insurance, Zhejiang Commercial Bank, and others.
To date, Wanxiang Group has gradually built an industrial landscape that spans automotive, new energy, agriculture, real estate, and finance. In an interview with "China Entrepreneur" this year, Lu Weiding stated that the company's operations always adhere to the philosophy of "wealth disperses people gather, wealth gathers people disperse; take it with integrity, use it for mutual enjoyment."
Lu Weiding himself has always been low-key, while Xiao Feng acts more like HashKey's spokesperson, holding 16.3% of the company's shares. Xiao Feng joined Wanxiang in 2011 after leaving Bosera Asset Management, serving as Vice Chairman of China Wanxiang Holdings and responsible for building Wanxiang's financial sector. In 2015, Wanxiang Group established the Wanxiang Blockchain Laboratory, with Xiao Feng as the initiator. That year, Wanxiang invested $500,000 in Ethereum, which was facing a funding crunch at the time. In the same year, Wanxiang Holdings invested $50 million to establish Distributed Capital, the first venture capital fund in China focused on investing in blockchain technology-related companies, with Vitalik Buterin as a co-founder, who later became an advisor in 2018.
It can be said that Xiao Feng is one of the key figures in the early development of cryptocurrency and a core figure in Wanxiang's blockchain layout. Xiao Feng has been actively involved in the formulation of industry standards and policy discussions, promoting the improvement of relevant regulatory frameworks.
After founding HashKey in 2018, Xiao Feng has focused on a compliant route. He stated at the listing ceremony that HashKey has already achieved "going global," with Hong Kong as its base radiating worldwide, having obtained 13 licenses in six jurisdictions. He believes that the key to HashKey meeting the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's strict IPO standards is its consistent adherence to the operating principle of "licensed compliance and regulation," proving that a compliant route can also achieve success in the cryptocurrency asset industry.
Following Wanxiang Qianchao, Chengde Lulu, Wanxiang Denong, and Shunfa Hengye, HashKey has become another listed company in the Wanxiang Group.
Oversubscription of Nearly 400 Times, Raising HKD 1.6 Billion Against the Wind
Before officially stepping onto the Hong Kong stock IPO stage, HashKey disclosed its true financials.
According to previous reports from PANews, HashKey's main businesses include trading facilitation services, on-chain services, and asset management services. However, from 2022 to the first half of 2025, HashKey has incurred losses for consecutive years, with a total loss exceeding HKD 2.86 billion. Nevertheless, HashKey's financial reserves remain relatively sufficient, with cash and cash equivalents of HKD 1.48 billion and digital assets valued at HKD 570 million as of October 31. (Related reading: HashKey Aims for Hong Kong's "First Crypto Stock," What Key Highlights Are Hidden in the Listing Documents?)
Regarding profitability issues, Xiao Feng admitted that the company is currently in an investment phase, and the market is still in a high-growth stage, so profitability is not the company's core operational metric. The key is whether the company has sufficient cash reserves to support long-term development, especially since the next 2 to 3 years will be a critical window for industry development. Insufficient investment may lead to missing opportunities for rapid industry growth, which is also a significant reason why the company is not currently seeking profitability.
Despite facing financial pressure from consecutive years of losses, market expectations for its listing were not optimistic. However, once subscriptions opened, the market response significantly exceeded expectations.
The Hong Kong public offering was oversubscribed by approximately 393.7 times, involving about HKD 66.8 billion, attracting over 88,000 investors; the international placement was oversubscribed by more than 5.4 times.
HashKey's cornerstone investors include UBS AM Singapore, Fidelity, CDH, Xinting Fund, Infini, Zhiyuan, Litong, Space Z PTE. LTD., and Shining Light Grace, collectively subscribing for USD 75 million. Among them, UBS AM Singapore subscribed for USD 10 million, Fidelity and CDH each subscribed for USD 5 million, Xinting Fund subscribed for USD 15 million, and Infini, Zhiyuan, and Litong each subscribed for USD 10 million, while Space Z PTE and Shining Light Grace each subscribed for USD 5 million.
From the allocation results, HashKey's global offering totaled approximately 241 million shares. Of these, the Hong Kong public offering accounted for 10%, or 24,057,200 shares; the international offering accounted for 90%, or 216,512,800 shares.
HashKey set the issue price at HKD 6.68 per share, with a net global fundraising amount of approximately HKD 1.48 billion. The company plans to use the proceeds primarily for technology and infrastructure upgrades, market expansion, and ecosystem collaboration.
On the first day of trading, HashKey did not replicate the surge seen during the listing of "stablecoin first stock" Circle. Its stock price opened at HKD 6.55, slightly below the issue price, with a total market capitalization of approximately HKD 18.112 billion, surpassing that of OSL Group, the parent company of Hong Kong's first compliant virtual asset trading platform, OSL Exchange.
HashKey's status as the first cryptocurrency asset company listed on the Hong Kong stock market not only signifies the increasing maturity of Hong Kong's virtual asset regulatory framework but also provides an important reference for the compliant development of the industry. In the future, HashKey still faces many challenges, with the primary task being to achieve profitability.
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