“Providing trustworthy services to one billion global users” has always been HashKey Group’s vision.
How to realize this version?
By adhering to a licensed, compliant, and regulated path and building a comprehensive Web3 financial infrastructure.
In the first half of 2024, the approval of Bitcoin Spot ETFs opened up compliant investment channels for traditional capital in cryptocurrency. In the second half, Trump’s victory ushered in a global policy-driven bull market, with the focus shifting towards innovation and competition within compliant frameworks. The entire crypto market experienced a continuous surge in breaking new ATHs (All-Time Highs).
Today, we take a moment to reflect on the meaningful milestones of 2024 that have shaped HashKey’s journey. These moments are reflections of the rapid and dynamic evolution of the market, guiding us toward an opening door-one leading to the “Golden Decade of Web3.”
January: “Financing” “Unicorn Status”
In January, HashKey Group completed a nearly US $100 million Series A finacing round, with a pre-money valuation above US $1.2 billion, claiming “unicorn” status.
This represents the financial market’s recognition of the regulatory-compliant path in the cryptocurrency sector.”
April: “HashKey Global” “Global Expansion”
In April, HashKey Global was officially launched after obtaining the Class-F full license granted by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, authorizing it to provide regulated virtual asset trading services. HashKey Group entered the “Dual Flagship Era” of licensed exchanges, accelerating its steps towards building the largest global cluster of licensed exchanges.
HashKey Global achieved profitability within two months of its launch, entering the top 10 of CoinGecko’s global exchange rankings in June, making it one of the fastest-growing licensed exchanges in the world in 2024. As of December 5, HashKey Global has reached 910,000 new registered users, with daily trading volume climbing to $250 million, maintaining a steady 10th place in CoinGecko’s global rankings.[1]
April: “HashKey Capital” “First batch of virtual asset spot ETFs in Hong Kong”
In April, Hong Kong officially approved six Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. HashKey Capital, in partnership with Bosera Funds, launched the Bosera HashKey Bitcoin ETF (3008.HK) and Bosera HashKey Ether ETF (3009.HK), innovatively introducing an “in-kind” subscription mechanism, providing investors with a secure, compliant, and convenient way to participate in the virtual asset market. By July 4th, the two ETFs had surpassed $110 million in total size, topping the Asian market.
Throughout the year, HashKey Capital and FTSE Russell, an LSEG business, collaborate to launch three custom indices to track digital assets worldwide, including the FTSE Custom Digital Asset Top 20 Index, FTSE Custom Digital Asset Infrastructure Index, and FTSE Custom Digital Asset Application Index, addressing institutional demand for investability and regulatory integrity in this new asset class.
As a leading institutional asset management company, HashKey Capital managed over $1 billion in assets in 2024, with investments spanning sectors such as institutional services, infrastructure, data, AI, consumer services, and technology. It also won the “Singapore SME500 Award” from the Singapore Trade and Commerce Association.
May: “Compliant” “Hong Kong’s Fully-licensed Unicorn”
In May, HashKey Exchange (“Hash Blockchain Limited”) received its Anti-Money Laundering (AMLO) license under Hong Kong’s Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance, becoming one of the first fully licensed virtual asset service providers in Hong Kong. HashKey Group now holds all necessary licenses from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for virtual asset services, positioning itself as a fully licensed unicorn in the virtual asset space.
HashKey Group has now obtained licenses for virtual asset services in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Bermuda, and will continue to advance its licensing efforts in Europe and the Middle East.
“Global Licensing” strategy makes it possible for HashKey to serve a billion users.
June: “HashKey Cloud” “Top 3 in Asia” “STO” “Node Validation”
As the technological backbone of HashKey Group, HashKey Cloud ranked among the top 3 in Asia and top 10 globally as a node validation service provider in 2024.
HashKey Cloud now supports over 80 mainstream public chains, with 35 additional chains and protocols added in 2024, and manages over $3.8 billion in total node validation assets.
In response to tokenised equity financing and fund tokenisation scenarios, HashKey Cloud launched STO infrastructure products to serve clients with tokenised asset needs. Significant progress in fund tokenisation and equity token offerings is expected in the near future, driving the compliance process and market structure optimisation in digital assets.
July: “HashKey Exchange” “Largest in Hong Kong” *
In July, several leading securities firms in Hong Kong upgraded to Type 1 licenses. Within the year, HashKey Exchange, as one of Hong Kong’s first virtual asset exchanges open to retail users, launched HashKey Pro, a comprehensive institutional-grade service. This service facilitated the rapid integration of professional and reliable virtual asset trading capabilities for technology and financial institutions, including ZA Bank and Victory Securities. To date, it has achieved a cumulative transaction volume exceeding HKD 5 billion.
HashKey Exchange also added AVAX and LINK to its retail offerings and provided 25 coins for professional investors (PI users), broadening investment choices for digital assets. By November, HashKey Exchange’s asset management scale surpassed HKD 10 billion, with cumulative trading volumes reaching HKD 580 billion, making it the largest crypto exchange in Hong Kong.[2]
HashKey Exchange has also partnered with RD Technologies, a participant in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s stablecoin issuer sandbox, to drive the future issuance of HKDR, a Hong Kong dollar-pegged stablecoin. We believe the stablecoin market will experience exponential growth, and its application in cross-border payments will become a key area for the widespread, compliant adoption of cryptocurrency in multiple countries.
Thanks to outstanding business performance, HashKey Exchange was named one of the top 20 exchanges in Forbes’ “The World’s Most Trustworthy Crypto Exchanges and Marketplaces,” being the only exchange from Hong Kong on the list.
July: “DJDOG” “Million-Dollar Airdrop” “Hash Pass”
In July, HashKey Group’s ecosystem token HSK launched its first round of airdrops. The explosive growth of Telegram and the TON ecosystem was one of the most notable trends in the 2024 crypto industry. Leveraging this market momentum, HashKey Group introduced DJDOG the first Telegram Tap-to-Earn game within the on-chain wallet HashPass, as the primary channel for HSK’s initial airdrop. To date, DJDOG has cultivated a community of over 10 million active users.
August: “HashKey OTC” “Singapore”
In August, HashKey OTC has been granted the Major Payment Institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under to provide digital payment token (“DPT”) services. HashKey OTC’s trading volume has now surpassed $5 billion.
August: “HashKey Tokenisation” “RWA”
In August, as a member of HKMA Project Ensemble’s Architecture Community, HashKey Group announced that it would explore the tokenisation and trading of real-world assets (RWA), including carbon credits, green assets, and money market funds in Ensemble’s sandbox . HashKey Tokenisation plays a key role in this initiative.
As HashKey Group’s tokenisation service provider, HashKey Tokenisation tokenises high-quality assets, creating liquidity for both Web2 and Web3 projects at various stages, and offering unique assets for compliant exchanges. This initiative bridges the gap between the real economy, innovative technology, and financial market development. With its strong research capabilities, the team’s financial book,《数字资产:创新、风险与监管》won the “2024 金羊奖”, China’s highest financial book honor. In the same year, HashKey Tokenisation also promoted the establishment of the “Open Source Alliance,” advancing open-source principles in the field of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
November: “HSK” “Ecosystem Token”
In November, after extensive preparation, HashKey Group launched its “Ecosystem Token” HSK on major exchanges, including HashKey Global. HSK can be used across the HashKey ecosystem, including trading fee discounts, exclusive token pre-purchase rights, and node validation rewards. As the native and gas token of HashKey’s Layer 2 blockchain, HashKey Chain, HSK holders will also have governance and decision-making rights within the HashKey Chain network.
With a long-term vision, HSK features a 4-year linear unlocking period, ensuring distribution only to true community builders.
As the value capturer for the entire HashKey ecosystem. As of December 27, HSK reached an all-time high of $2.56, with a maximum 30-day increase of 257.3%.[3]
The market’s recognition of HSK demonstrates the true power of a “Web3 Ecosystem.”
December: “HashKey Chain” “Compliance-Friendly On-Chain Infrastructure”
HashKey Exchange, HashKey Global, HashKey Capital, and HashKey Cloud form the core of HashKey Group. However, that’s not enough. HashKey Group needs to build a fully interconnected on-chain and off-chain Web3 financial infrastructure, a decentralised financial system that is open and accessible globally to everyone.
On December 18, 2024, HashKey launched the “compliance-friendly” Layer 2 blockchain, HashKey Chain, offering a faster and cost-effective full-stack on-chain Web3 solution for global users. This infrastructure provides multi-dimensional, compliant-friendly support for the on-chain deployment of traditional financial products.
The launch of HashKey Chain also ties together the entire HashKey ecosystem, creating a powerful, mutually reinforcing, and large-scale cooperative system.
2024: “All in Good Time”
2025: Stepping into the “Golden Decade of Web3”
Some say we tend to overestimate the changes of one year and underestimate those of ten. But in the Web3 world, we may have underestimated the changes of a single year.
In 2024, we saw licensed exchanges, ETFs, RWAs, STOs, and stablecoins driving the deep integration of on-chain and off-chain financial markets. The compliant, full-ecosystem Web3 infrastructure that HashKey Group has built is becoming the bridge between traditional finance and crypto finance, guiding us toward the door to the “Golden Decade of Web3.”
In the next decade, “Providing trustworthy services to one billion users” will no longer be out of reach.
2024, “All in Good Time”.
[1] As of December 5, 2024, HashKey Global ranked 10th among global exchanges on CoinGecko.
[2] As of December 27, 2024, HashKey Exchange ranked 7th among global exchanges on CoinGecko, making it the highest-ranked licensed virtual asset exchange in Hong Kong.
[3] As of December 27, 2024, according to CoinGecko data, HSK reached an all-time high of $2.56.
About HashKey Group
HashKey Group is a leading digital asset financial services group in Asia with global operations in regions such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and Bermuda. Since 2018, HashKey Group has built a global Web3 ecosystem within a high-compliance regulatory framework, including HashKey Exchange, the largest licensed virtual asset exchange in Hong Kong*; HashKey Global, the global flagship digital asset exchange; HashKey Capital, a global asset manager investing exclusively in blockchain technology and digital assets; HashKey OTC, the compliant over-the-counter (OTC) trading arm of HashKey Group, HashKey Cloud, a leading provider of global Web3 infrastructure; and HashKey Tokenisation, a tokenisation services provider.
HashKey Group also possesses a rich on-chain ecosystem, having developed the Ethereum Layer 2, HashKey Chain, and has listed the HashKey platform token HSK. HashKey Group is committed to driving the mass application of blockchain technology, aiming to provide trustworthy and accessible digital asset services to one billion global users.
*As of December 11, 2024, HashKey Exchange ranks sixth on CoinGecko’s global exchange list and is the highest-ranked licensed virtual asset exchange in Hong Kong.
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