HashKey Managing Director brings Hong Kong crypto offering success to UAE
HashKey a regulated crypto exchange in the UAE as well as in Hong Kong recently carried out its IPO attracting nine cornerstone investors including UBS AM Singapore, Fidelity, Cithara Fund and CDH. It listed its stock on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong limited.
It became the first publicly listed digital asset company in Asia through an IPO in Hong Kong and as noted by the company the listing established a stronger foundation for its global expansion and long-term initiatives.
Established in 2018, HashKey operates a licensed digital asset platform offering exchange trading, over-the-counter services, on-chain services such as staking and tokenization, as well as asset management solutions for institutional and retail clients.
HashKey shares slid slightly as they debuted on the Hong Kong stock exchange, after the crypto exchange raised $206 million in its initial public offering. HashKey, It raised around 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars after pricing the IPO at HK$6.68 per share, near the higher end of the marketed range of HK$5.95 to HK$6.95. Shares closed at HK$6.51.
Prior to the IPO, Lara on the Block interviewed Ben El Baz, Managing Director of HashKey Group, and Head of Global Expansion.
Commenting on the IPO, Ben noted that it had been busy times within HashKey preparing for it. He viewed it as historical point for HashKey.
Beyond the IPO El Baz discussed what HashKey has been doing in the MENA region and why they also applied and received a license in the UAE. El Baz stresses that HashKey is one of the few licensed crypto asset firms in Hong Kong and the only licensed one in both Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and UAE in Dubai through VARA.
For him, being licensed in Hong Kong is key because Hong Kong is the gateway between China and the rest of the world, between Asia and the rest of world. Only two of the licensed crypto exchanges are operational. It is not easy to get licensed in Hong Kong he adds. He states, “There is a strong connection between Hong Kong and the UAE as well. This gateway supports crypto and institutional solutions for crypto.
The choice of being licensed in UAE was not an escape but UAE’s regulatory landscape was enticing
HashKey according to El Baz didn’t enter the UAE because it was running away from an uncomfortable situation elsewhere, on the contrary because it was comfortably licensed in Hong Kong, it was the regulatory environment in the UAE and specifically in Dubai that attracted them to the region.
He explains, “We started to see a lot more clarity in terms of, which regulator is doing what and we had been looking at the VARA regime and SCA UAE and being an organization which cares about regulation and compliance we decided to enter UAE through Dubai. UAE was a great place to have our MENA headquarters.”
Haskey is catering to Institutional clients in UAE and Hong Kong
On the topic of how competitive the market has become in the UAE, El-Baz explained that to him there are two crypto for retail and crypto for institutional players. While he sees a lot of competition in the retail sector, he sees more exciting growth coming from the institutional sector. He has seen a lot of interest and demand from institutional players to team up with HashKey. These include banks, brokers, who are interested in offering crypto to their clients. Even digital banks, and security brokers in Hong Kong are requesting that.
Other clients are interested in working with HashKey to buy and hold crypto assets on a safe and licensed global exchange. He explains, “They want to transact at a certain price range and transact with a company that has a global track record. But most importantly because we are a global licensed exchange with a direct operation in the UAE.”
For Ben, crypto adoption in terms of ETFs, pension funds buying into crypto was institutional adoption 1.0, but there is more growth and adoption coming. He believes that DAT (Digital Asset Treasury) is the institutional adoption 1.5 and 2.0 will be when all players, banks, asset managers, corporates, brokers start to use crypto rails as infrastructure for their operations.
A digital asset treasury (DAT) refers to the corporate strategy and the entities (DAT Companies or DATCOs) that hold cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin on their balance sheets, acting as a new investment vehicle for investors seeking crypto exposure through familiar stock-like investments rather than direct ownership.
In Hong Kong he is already seeing this, banks, security brokers are offering their clients crypto and stablecoin payments, tokenized money market funds on their mobile applications using HashKey because it is a regulated platform.
In terms of the UAE El-Baz believes that we are starting to see this happen, and there are ways that the UAE can improve on the offering and strengthen overtime. Looking to the Hong Kong model, He sees brokers offering crypto asset trading. He explains, “The Hong Kong regulator allows brokers to route their orders to exchanges but licensed ones on shore but not with those using offshore bookings. Right now, in the UAE there are no mandatory requirements to have these booking done onshore.”
He does see a growth and strengthening of institutional adoption 2.0 in the UAE.
Ben adds that some financial services entities in UAE are thinking about offering this with HashKey. In Hong Kong through the HashKey application offers tokenized money market funds, allowing HashKey to offer traditional and crypto financial products.
HashKey aims to brings its success in Hong Kong to MENA
As for HashKey in the UAE, the company is both working within the retail as well as institutional sector. Ben would like to bring the successes of HashKey in Hong Kong to the UAE, whether this is building infrastructure for financial institutions, such as asset managers who do spot ETFs and use HashKey for custody or working with banks and brokers who utilize HashKey’s order books for routing.
Ben is looking to build up their presence in the UAE market before looking into other MENA markets.
Looking into 2026 Optimism for crypto
As for 2026 and the crypto market, El- Baz is quite optimistic. He states, “ There are always ups and downs in the crypto market and crypto is notoriously volatile. He does see tailwinds in 2026 expecially with interest rate policy, as well as institutional adoption and stablecoin adoption. He believes all these will continue to support the market.
He notes that if one analyzes the price point for Bitcoin in 2026 being offered by leading banks, it is around 150K six digit estimates for Bitcoin.
That said he also believes there are always things in the macro markets that could impact the markets. One of those he believes is the decent level of correlations to the Magnificent 7, the tech stocks and AI. He explains, “ So if something happens in that market, I think it will impact the crypto market. There are still correlations between macro markets that need to be considered.”
He adds,” But overall, I’m very optimistic, I think, from my perspective, as someone who’s been in the market for over over eight years now, is throughout all these cycles, there’s always like, ups and downs, but at the end of the day, you know, you’re the trading the market short term, or you’re investing in the market long term. And I think, given what I’ve seen in 2025 with regards to the technology and the adoption, I’m very, very optimistic about the future.”
He also sees a continued growth in tokenized financial products. He explains, “The growth this year 2025 in tokenized financial products has been incredible, like from 100% to 300%.
At the end of 2025, HashKey Capital, a subsidiary of HashKey Holdings, closed the first round of fundraising for its fourth crypto fund, locking in $250 million from a mix of institutional investors, family offices and high-net-worth individuals.
The fund, HashKey Fintech Multi-Strategy Fund IV, is targeting a final close of $500 million. It will invest in both public and private markets, backing blockchain infrastructure and applications that support real-world and scalable use cases.
