Hong Kong-based crypto trading platform operator Diginex is set to go public in September on the American NASDAQ stock exchange after winning permission from the market regulator – claiming that it will become the “first digital asset exchange to be listed in the United States.”
The firm has also launched a new Singapore-based crypto exchange that will specialize in crypto derivatives. The exchange will be named EQUOS.io, and Diginex said that it has applied for an operating license from Singapore’s financial regulator and central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The firm said EQUOS.io is an exchange that was “built for professional investors but designed for everyone.”
Diginex already operates spot trading in Singapore, but does so under a “temporary exemption” from licensing, the company stated in an official release.
The public listing deal has been in the pipelines for a year. Diginex has been working on the proposed NASDAQ listing with 8i Enterprises Acquisition, an investment holding company, for around a year.
Diginex had hoped to go public as early as March this year, but after further setbacks, said it has now received approval from the regulatory US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Richard Byworth, Diginex’s CEO, said that all that now remains is for shareholders to vote on the proposed NASDAQ launch on September 15, per Reuters.
Should the shareholders’ vote go ahead without any hitches, the public listing could take place on September 20-23.
In a separate interview with Bloomberg, the CEO stated,
“The tone for the United States and those important stock markets means we’re going to start to see more and more of this industry come to market.”
Speaking to Reuters, Byworth stated that going public “speaks to the credibility of the team” and the firm’s “pedigree within traditional financial markets.”
And Byworth added that EQUOS.io could be set to diversify the nature of its offerings in the future, adding,
“On the more interesting edge of [crypto] derivatives, we have seen a more limited product set come to market because we are constrained by the infrastructure.”
