APAC’s Biggest Stock Exchanges Push Back Against Digital Asset Treasury Strategies: Bloomberg

Some of the biggest stock exchanges in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region are pushing back against companies pursuing digital asset treasury (DAT) strategies, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has challenged at least five companies over plans to buy and hoard large amounts of cryptocurrencies, according to the report, citing people familiar with the matter.

The exchange referred to rules prohibiting large liquid holdings.

India’s Bombay Stock Exchange last month rejected an application from Jetking Infotrain, which planned to invest some of the proceeds from a preferential allotment in crypto, the report said. Meanwhile the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) prohibits firms from holding 50% or more of their balance sheets in cash or cash-like assets, according to Locate Technologies’ CEO Steve Orenstein.

New South Wales-based software firm Locate, which holds 12.3 BTC ($1.33 million) on its balance sheet, is in the process of shifting its listing to the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX), according to a spokesperson, the report said.

Large numbers of publicly traded companies have pivoted to DAT strategies this year, aiming to replicate the business model of firms like Strategy (MSTR) and Metaplanet (3350), which have acquired substantial amounts of BTC as reserve assets.

Metaplanet’s native Japan is one of the outliers in the APAC region in that its stock exchanges allow DAT strategies with little push-back, according to Bloomberg’s report.

“Once a company is listed, if it makes appropriate disclosures — for example,
disclosing that it is purchasing Bitcoin — it would be quite difficult to immediatelyconclude that such actions are unacceptable,” Hiromi Yamaji, CEO of Japan Exchange Group, said at a press conference in September.