Is OKCoin Taking Steps Toward an IPO?

OKCoin founder Star Xu is reportedly attempting to securing a 60 percent stake in construction engineering firm LEAP Holdings Group, a move that many see as a path towards OKCoin holding an IPO. The news was originally reported by CoinDesk on January 17.

Founded in 2013, OKCoin is a Shanghai-based cryptocurrency exchange. According to data from Coinmarketcap, the exchange is currently the world’s 89th-largest in terms of trade volume.

A Majority Holding in LEAP Could Act As a Gateway to an IPO

Xu submitted a request to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Stock Exchange A stock exchange, also known as a securities exchange or bourse represents is a facility where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities.This includes shares of stock, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), or other financial instruments. By extension, stock exchanges can also provide facilities for the issue and redemption of such securities and instruments and capital events including the payment of income and dividendsStock exchanges have developed into a permanent fixture in the fin A stock exchange, also known as a securities exchange or bourse represents is a facility where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities.This includes shares of stock, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), or other financial instruments. By extension, stock exchanges can also provide facilities for the issue and redemption of such securities and instruments and capital events including the payment of income and dividendsStock exchanges have developed into a permanent fixture in the fin Read this Term (HKEX) to purchase approximately 3.2 billion shares of the company for the equivalent of roughly USD$0.02 apiece, totaling over USD$60 million.

HKEX has not yet approved the request, but if it does, OKCoin would reportedly have an easy pathway into becoming a publicly-listed company in China--instead of having to overcome the legal and bureaucratic challenges associated with going public in China, it would simply use the firm that it holds a majority stake in to act as a sort of 'surrogate' to hold its own IPO.

A similar set of actions was taken by cryptocurrency exchange Huobi in August of 2018 when the company purchased a majority stake in Pantronics Holdings for $70 million.

Starting the New Year with our Crypto News Roundup. There is a lot to be excited about as 2019 gets going!https://t.co/KeLFxclsZB

— OKCoin (@OKCoin) January 5, 2019

HKEX is Slow to Approve Crypto-Related Applications

A number of other cryptocurrency industry firms are seeking to hold IPOs of their own in an apparent attempt to gain capital from the traditional financial sphere. So far, the list includes Crypto Mining Crypto Mining Cryptocurrency mining is defined as the process through which the transactions of a digital currency are authenticated then published to blockchain. For every crypto transaction conducted, a crypto miner is in charge of authenticating the information which, if approved, is then updated in the blockchain. Currently, the most popular cryptocurrencies being mined are Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum Classic, Monero, and DASH. How is Cryptocurrency Mined?The process of crypto mining itself involves the s Cryptocurrency mining is defined as the process through which the transactions of a digital currency are authenticated then published to blockchain. For every crypto transaction conducted, a crypto miner is in charge of authenticating the information which, if approved, is then updated in the blockchain. Currently, the most popular cryptocurrencies being mined are Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum Classic, Monero, and DASH. How is Cryptocurrency Mined?The process of crypto mining itself involves the s Read this Term equipment manufacturers Ebang and Canaan, and crypto mining giant Bitmain, who have all filed applications to hold IPOs within the same jurisdiction.

According to CoinDesk, HKEX has been reluctant to approve any of the IPO applications. So much time has passed that Canaan’s application has already expired, but Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the company now may be pursuing an IPO in New York.