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Singapore, Nov 3: Hatten Technology signed a joint venture agreement with homegrown fintech company HydraX to establish a joint venture company to develop and operate a ‘first-of-its-kind’ cryptocurrency exchange in Singapore and Malaysia.
The Crypto Exchanges and related custodian services are subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals which JVC will be applying for in both countries.
The two Crypto Exchanges, are believed to be the first such exchanges worldwide.
“This joint venture to develop and operate Crypto Exchanges is strategic to our digital and blockchain initiatives,” Executive Chairman and Managing Director of Hatten Land Datuk Colin Tan said.
“The listing and trading of digital assets will significantly enhance the value proposition of our strategic pivot towards the digital economy.
“While cryptocurrencies are becoming mainstream, we foresee a growing demand for ‘Virgin’ and “Green” Bitcoins amid the rising ESG trend and we look forward to harnessing the opportunities in this area,” he said.
The JVC is the latest initiative undertaken by Hatten Land to re-purpose its malls in Melaka and align its business model with the growth trends of the digital economy.
The group has announced plans to create a ‘metaverse’ digital twin of a historical Malaysian city and develop a dedicated token system and create digital assets, including non-fungible tokens.
Hatten Land is also working with partners to install solar panels on rooftops of the malls and potentially build large-scale solar photovoltaic facilities of 100 MWp.
These panels will enable environmentally-friendly cryptocurrency mining which will commence with 3,000 mining rigs to be operated with two different partners.
The digital assets derived from these new initiatives may also be listed or traded on the Crypto Exchanges.
With every transaction being recorded on distributed ledgers, regulated financial institutions might reject Bitcoins that may have been used for illegal activities.
However, freshly minted ‘Virgin Bitcoins’ with no transaction history are considered pristine and can potentially command a premium.
‘Green Bitcoins’ mined with renewable energy sources are also gaining popularity among cryptocurrency investors.
The Crypto Exchanges will focus on listing and trading of newly-minted Bitcoins also known as Virgin Bitcoins or Clean Bitcoins, eco-friendly BTC wrapper tokens (Green Bitcoins), as well as other green cryptocurrency, tokens or green credits.
In addition to operating the exchanges, the JVC will also generate revenue by providing custody services for the cryptocurrencies and tokens that are being traded.
Under the JVA, the Group will hold a 60 per cent equity stake in the JVC with the remaining 40 per cent equity stake to be held by Hydra X.
As partial consideration for the development costs for the Crypto Exchanges, Hydra X will be issued new ordinary shares of Hatten Land and Hydra X will become a shareholder of the Company.
Singapore-headquartered Hydra X offers digital technology infrastructure to global financial institutions in the capital markets space.
It provides regulatory compliant, end-to-end multi-asset market infrastructure solutions which allow interoperability between digital and traditional assets.
Headed by founding CEO Daryl Low, Hydra X’s management team has altogether 60 years of experience in finance, financial regulation, law and technology.
Hydra X’s customers include financial institutions such as DBS and currently provides custodian services for digital securities under the FinTech Regulatory Sandbox of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Hatten Land has proposed to issue 20 million new ordinary shares at S$0.06 per share to Golden Summit International Ltd, of which 70 per cent of the net proceeds will be used to fund new business initiatives of the Group and the rest will be used for working capital.
The placement price of S$0.06 per share represents a discount of approximately 2.12 per cent to the volume-weighted average price of S$0.0613, based on trades done on the Shares on SGX-ST from October 27 up to the trading halt on October 28 (being the market day on which the Placement Agreement is signed).
Golden Summit invests in consumer and enterprise tech companies in Southeast Asia, North Asia and North America, focusing on enterprise software, fintech, e-commerce and the healthcare industry.
Its investments include Coupang, the largest online marketplace in South Korea and Stockbit, a popular Indonesian stock trading app, among others.
June Ramli is the editor of DailyStraits.com. To stay in touch with June, look her up on Twitter @junesairaramli