MaiCoin Group, which operates Taiwan’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is considering going public on the Nasdaq stock market within two years, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The company is completing a Series C funding round that could value it at about $400 million, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. MaiCoin will use the proceeds to finance expansion into Southeast Asia, according to one of the people. No final decision has been made on pursuing a Nasdaq listing.
Pulling off a first-time share sale in the U.S. would be a rare feat for a Taiwanese company. In the past five years, only two firms based there have completed U.S. IPOs, data compiled by Bloomberg show. One of them is a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, the data show.
While governments from Singapore to Hong Kong are increasing oversight of cryptocurrency trading, Taiwan hasn’t imposed any formal regulations on the sector except for asking firms to prepare for complying with anti-money laundering laws. In January, its financial regulator said only three of 16 crypto exchanges had completed that process.
“Taiwan is the Goldilocks to develop DeFi in terms of financial regulations,” MaiCoin founder Alex Liu said in an interview last month, using shorthand for decentralized-finance applications.
Liu declined to comment on the Series C funding round and plans to list on Nasdaq.
Growth Forecasts
MaiCoin expects trading revenue to rise more than 70% annually through 2025, according to a fundraising document seen by Bloomberg. It forecasts similar growth for its crypto brokerage business. The company was founded in 2014 by Liu, a Stanford University graduate who previously worked at Qualcomm Inc.
The company gets about 80% of its revenue from Taiwan, one of the people said. The exchange and brokerage businesses are similar in size, the person said.
In addition to using its mobile app, MaiCoin clients in Taiwan can process trading orders at Seven-Eleven and Hi-Life stores throughout the island.
Taiwan’s lightly regulated crypto market could be a selling point for MaiCoin. The island’s Financial Supervisory Commission has put out several statements since July last year warning investors about the risks of cryptocurrencies, but it hasn’t taken any drastic measures to regulate trading.
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