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One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world is aiming to be publicly traded in the US.
Singapore-based BTHMB is planning to buy a publicly traded company as part of an unconventional route for entering the US market.
On Tuesday, Blockchain Industries, which is publicly listed and traded on US OTC markets using the ticker BCII, announced that it had signed a binding letter of intent with the Singapore Company.
Reverse Merger in Progress
BTHMB is being rebranded as Blockchain Exchange Alliance, and the binding letter of intent noted that it would be acquiring BCII.
This reverse merger will provide the company quicker access to the US public markets, compared to an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
The company previously intended to list in Singapore but did not want to wait for one to two years to complete an IPO, CNBC quoted from its source.
The new combined company, where BEA will be the majority stakeholder, will later ‘up-list,’ moving from the OTC markets to the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ, according to CNBC.
A public market listing may mean stricter compliance guidelines for the company. However, if the plan goes through, it would make BEA the first major crypto exchange to be listed publicly.
A Giant Leap for Crypto
None of the companies in the crypto space have launched an IPO yet, but hedge-fund manager Mike Novogratz used the reverse merging tactic to buy Canadian crypto startup Coin Capital which merged via a reverse takeover with Bradmer Pharmaceuticals, a Canadian shell company.
Then the renamed company traded as Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada.
CNBC further notes that it has seen an investor deck which suggests bigger plans for the new Blockchain Exchange Alliance.
The company wants to go beyond Bitcoin and continue buying and consolidating exchanges around the world.
It intends to hold 9 exchanges by the end of 2019 and 40 by the end of 2020.
The group has already started working on this plan as it holds a controlling interest in Bithumb Holdings.
The company, consequently, is also exposed to Bithumb Korea, a popular Seoul-based exchange.
However, it has its fair share of controversies since Forbes reported that the crypto exchange rating service named ‘CER’ had accused the Bithumb exchange of faking over 90% of its trading volume.
Bithumb also suffered a $31 million hack in June last year.
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