Crypto exchange HashKey lost more than HK$3.0 billion ($386 million) between 2022 and mid-2025 as it invested in critical infrastructure, the company said in a prospectus showing it's looking to raise as much as HK$1.67 billion in a Hong Kong IPO.

The figure represents the upfront spending needed to build the custody, compliance, and on-chain services required of a licensed exchange, the company said. It lost HK$506.7 million in first-half 2025, despite rapid user and asset growth and burned through an average of HK$40.9 million per month in the third quarter.

HashKey’s argument to investors centers on the leverage enabled by a regulated market structure. Many of the largest costs, including licensing, custody, and risk infrastructure, do not scale linearly with activity. Revenue tied to trading, staking and management fees can expand faster than expenses once client adoption increases, a dynamic the company describes as the foundation for margin improvement over time. Registered users surged to 1.44 million accounts from fewer than 200 in 2022.

The filing highlights a strategic shift in the type of users as retail trading volumes fell in early 2025 following declines in ether ETH$3,108.07 and other major assets, while institutional flows remained resilient. HashKey Global, registered in Bermuda and designed to attract retail clients, was pared back because it lacked an on-ramp or off-ramp, reducing its competitiveness in a market where local fiat rails matter.

Instead, the exchange leaned into its onshore platform, which offers licensed on-ramp and off-ramp channels and has become more closely tied to ETF flows and traditional financial institutions.

With cash, digital assets and expected IPO proceeds, the company estimates more than 70 months of liquidity even under conservative assumptions.

HashKey is a competitor to CoinDesk's parent company, Bullish.