SprinkleXchange, a blockchain-powered initial public offering platform, is preparing to list its first company in June, Bloomberg reported on May 17. According to Alexander Wallin, the bourse’s CEO, it is hoped that up to 1,000 companies will join over the next three to four years. The Ethereum blockchain is used for settlement and clearing, and its users will be able to trade listed companies and cryptocurrencies 24 hours a day. Switzerland’s SIX stock exchange is also planning to launch a blockchain-powered digital exchange, which will be powered by blockchain consortium R3’s Corda Enterprise platform. According to Bloomberg, SprinkleXchange claims its …

One of the most significant introductions that blockchain has made available in recent years is adding new tools through which companies can raise capital. The technology has made it possible to raise funds for a project from investors of just about any pocket size through initial coin offerings (ICOs) as well as security token offerings (STOs). Typically, these investors put in their money not just in return for a big payday, but they’re usually believers in the project as well. These investors form the community around which new projects are built. This is the concept that popularized the colloquial term …

A critic of cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain, BTCKING555, said that a group investors are preparing a class action lawsuit against the company in a tweet on March 26. BTCKING555 said in the post that a number of Bitmain’s investors are going to file a class action lawsuit against the company in Hong Kong, seeking to recover their investments after the expiration of Bitmain’s initial public offering (IPO) bid. The post reads: “...already in august I warned many investors and prevented them from investing. Those that did not listen, good luck recovering your moneys. I hear there is class action in …

Chinese crypto mining titan Bitmain’s filing to list an initial public offering (IPO) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) has officially expired, according to an updated list of now-lapsed applications on the HKEx website on March 26. In a blog post published the same day, the company acknowledged that its IPO application was now inactive, and simultaneously revealed the appointment of a new CEO, Mr. Haichao Wang. As reported yesterday, Bitmain’s IPO filing — published in English and Chinese on Sept. 26, 2018 — was set to imminently reach the end of a six-month validity window, pursuant to HKEx …

Chinese crypto mining giant Bitmain’s filing to list its initial public offering (IPO) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) will seemingly reach the end of its six-month expiration window today, as a crypto community member has noted in a tweet posted on March 25. As the South China Morning Post has previously outlined, HKEx listing rules provide a six-month window for a given application to proceed to a closed-door hearing before its Listing Committee. The Committee is tasked with giving the final approval or disapproval of the offering; should an applicant fail to hear a response within this time …

What is an STO? STO stands for security token offering. Similar to an initial coin offering (ICO), an investor is issued with a crypto coin or token representing their investment. But unlike an ICO, a security token represents an investment contract into an underlying investment asset, such as stocks, bonds, funds and real estate investment trusts (REIT). A security can be defined as a “fungible, negotiable financial instrument that holds some type of monetary value,” i.e., an investment product that is backed by a real-world asset such as a company or property. A security token, therefore, represents the ownership information …

Bitcoin (BTC) mining giant Bitmain could have made losses of around $500 million in Q3 last year, industry magazine CoinDesk reported on Feb. 19, citing a company document. Bitmain, which is currently attempting to launch an initial public offering (IPO) under the auspices of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx), submitted a report into its earnings in line with listing requirements. According to the publication, that report indicated that for 2018 as a whole, excluding Q4, revenue was $3 billion and profits $500 million. This contrasts with previous figures for the first half of the year, for which profit was …

Crypto asset brokerage Voyager Digital — co-founded by the ex-CTO of Uber — has gone public on Canada’s TSX Venture Exchange. The news was announced in an official tweet from Voyager on Feb. 11. Shares are traded under ticker symbol VYGR.V, as a company blog post outlines. The listing comes following the completion of a so-called reverse takeover — also known as a reverse initial public offering or backdoor listing. Last week, Voyager had announced that its merger with former shell company UC Resources Ltd. was nearing completion. The moved allows the crypto brokerage to qualify as a TSX Venture …

In a transaction that has all the hallmarks of a reverse initial public offering (IPO) — also called a reverse merger — OKC Holdings Corp., which is the parent company of OKCoin and OKEx (the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume) bought a controlling share in Leap Holdings Group on Jan. 14. Leap Holdings is a construction company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), with a market cap of 978 million Hong Kong dollars ($124.7 million). OKC Holdings bought 3,182,790,001 shares at a price of HK$0.1520 ($0.019) each, for 60.49 percent of the company and voting rights. …

Star Xu, founder of exchange services provider OKCoin and the world’s second-largest crypto exchange OKEx, has bought a controlling share in a Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed firm for around $60 million. The deal was disclosed by the acquired firm, LEAP Holdings Group, on Jan. 23. Following the deal’s completion on Jan. 14., OKCoin’s parent firm OKC Holdings Corp. became the controlling shareholder in LEAP Holdings — a Caymans Island-incorporated construction engineering firm, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). Having purchased roughly 3.2 billion shares at HK$0.15 (~$0.02) apiece — at a total cost of HK$483,890,536 (~$61.6 …

The head of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) has addressed queries about initial public offering (IPO) listings amid confusion over Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain’s application. English-language newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported the comments on Jan. 24. Speaking at the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, HKEX CEO Charles Li Xiaojia said that it was important IPO candidates were consistent about their business offerings. “If a company made billions of US dollars through Business A, but suddenly said it will do Business B without showing any performance, or said Business B is better, then I don’t …

Singapore-based holding firm Blockchain Exchange Alliance, which has a controlling stake in major crypto exchange Bithumb, is looking to list in the United States by acquiring a publicly traded company in the country, CNBC reports on Jan. 22. According to CNBC, a publicly-traded holding company called Blockchain Industries announced that it had a binding letter of intent with Blockchain Exchange Alliance. Acquiring a publicly-traded company, or a so-called reverse merger, can be a faster way to take a company public than a traditional Initial Public Offering (IPO). Should the reverse merger prove successful, this would reportedly be the first instance …