MaiCoin Group, a conglomerate that operates Taiwan’s largest cryptocurrency exchange , is reportedly considering going public on the Nasdaq stock market.
According to Bloomberg, citing two sources familiar with the matter, the plan is expected to occur within the next two years. For the purpose, the company is ending a Series C funding round that could value it at around $400 million.
One of the people quoted by Bloomberg said the proceeds would be used to finance expansion into Southeast Asia. There has been no final decision on pursuing a Nasdaq listing.
For a Taiwanese company, completing a first-time share sale in the US would be a rare achievement. Based on data compiled by Bloomberg, only two companies based there have completed US IPOs over the past five years. The data indicates that one of them is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
“Taiwan is the Goldilocks to develop DeFi in terms of financial regulations,” Alex Liu, the Founder of MaiCoin, commented in an interview last month. However, the company declined to comment on Bloomberg’s report about going public and the Series C funding.
Bloomberg reports that MaiCoin expects trading revenue to increase more than 70% annually through 2025. In addition, the company expects its crypto brokerage business to grow similarly. The Stanford University graduate, Liu founded the company in 2014 after previously working at Qualcomm Inc.
Crypto Regulation in Taiwan
In terms of the regulatory’s environment in Taiwan, since July last year, the island’s Financial Supervisory Commission has warned investors about the risks of cryptocurrencies, but it has not taken any drastic measures to regulate trading.
The government of Singapore is increasing its oversight of cryptocurrency trading, while the government of Taiwan has not formally regulated the sector, with the only exception of requesting firms to prepare for complying with anti-money laundering laws. Only 3 of 16 crypto exchanges in January, according to the country's financial regulator, had completed the process.
