Hashkey Group, which operates Hong Kong’s largest licensed crypto exchange by trading volume, has received a $30 million investment from Gaorong Ventures, an early backer of Chinese discount e-commerce giant PDD Holdings.
The investment values Hashkey at nearly $1.5 billion post-money, the Hong Kong-based company confirmed on Monday. Hashkey said it achieved unicorn status last January, when it raised roughly $100 million in a Series A round at a pre-money valuation of more than $1.2 billion from investors including OKX Ventures, the investment arm of crypto exchange OKX.
Hashkey didn’t provide details about how it will use the proceeds.
The investment from Gaorong Ventures, cofounded by Forbes Midas Lister Zhang Zhen, comes amid a crypto rally fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans for a more friendly regulatory environment for digital assets. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has surged about 40% since Trump was elected in November. His calls to make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the planet” and to create a bitcoin strategic reserve have sent bitcoin to an all-time high of more than $108,000 in January. The cryptocurrency has dropped roughly 10% since its peak amid escalating U.S.-China trade war, which undermined investor confidence on risky assets.
Hashkey, launched in 2018, has businesses in crypto trading, venture capital investment, asset management and blockchain infrastructure. It is one of the first companies that received regulatory approval in Hong Kong to offer retail crypto trading services under the city’s digital asset regime launched in 2023. Hashkey’s crypto exchange had a spot trading volume of about $25 million in the past 24 hours as of Monday afternoon, according to tracker Coingecko. The firm is led by Xiao Feng, who founded the blockchain arm of Chinese conglomerate Wanxiang Group; Feng also founded Fenbushi Capital, a blockchain-focused venture capital firm whose portfolio includes Chinese tycoon Jihan Wu’s crypto financial services firm Matrixport and stablecoin issuer Circle.
Hashkey is among the crypto startups riding Hong Kong’s ambition to become a digital asset hub. In September, Hong Kong fintech startup RD Technologies raised $7.8 million from investors including billionaire Neil Shen’s venture capital giant Hongshan to expand into the digital asset space, with plans to issue stablecoins—cryptocurrencies pegged to the Hong Kong dollar and backed by reserves of cash and cash equivalents.
