18/12/2025

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | DEC 18, 2025

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Top HK crypto exchange HashKey makes market debut

military gaining a technological advantage over the United States. Rui Ma, founder of the Tech Buzz China newsletter, told AFP this month that “export controls have created a protected high-end segment” for chips in China. “Combined with policy support and much deeper capital pools, domestic GPU and AI accelerator companies now have far more favourable conditions than in prior cycles,” she said. – AFP gain amongst Asian currencies. The government has said the baht’s strength is hurting the economy by affecting the competitiveness of exports and tourism, and the BOT reiterated comments from Tuesday that it was taking action to contain its gains. “The committee agrees to consider approaches to manage foreign exchange transactions that exert significant pressures on the baht,” the central bank said. – Reuters Bhutan pledges US$1 billion cryptocurrency for ‘mindfulness’ city THIMPHU: Bhutan said yesterday it will invest US$1 billion from national cryptocurrency reserves to develop a “Mindfulness City”, which it hopes will become an economic hub for the tiny Himalayan nation. Buddhist-majority Bhutan, squeezed between giants India and China, champions a policy of prioritising “Gross National Happiness” over growth. But that has not helped the government deal with widespread unemployment, forcing thousands of youths to leave the country. As part of broader efforts to reverse that trend by soliciting foreign investment, the landlocked kingdom in 2023 announced much-hyped plans for its “Gelephu Mindfulness City” (GMC), a special economic zone close to the Indian border. Carbon-negative Bhutan has also aggressively promoted hydropower projects, earning substantial revenue by exporting electricity to energy-hungry India. At the same time it has utilised the cheap power for its own drive to mine cryptocurrency, especially bitcoin. “I must ensure that every Bhutanese is a custodian, stakeholder, and beneficiary of GMC,” King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck said yesterday in a speech to mark the country’s national day. “To support this policy, I am announcing today the allocation of up to 10,000 BTC (bitcoin), valued at approximately US$1 billion. This commitment is for our people, our youth, and our nation.” Bhutan’s state-run Druk Holding and Investments invested US$539 million – nearly a fifth of the total GDP – to establish cryptocurrency operations in 2021-2022, according to the World Bank. – AFP

o City pushes to become global hub for blockchain tech

Xiao said at its listing ceremony. “We firmly believe that even in the digital asset industry, a complete set of regulatory rules – built on centuries of human societal experience – is essential,” he said. Hong Kong is seen as an experimental field for using cryptocurrencies as mainstream investment tools. The city launched a licensing system this year for stablecoins, a less volatile type of digital unit. Virtual currency has been banned in mainland China since 2021, although the country has trialled its own “e-yuan” central bank digital currency. “China is still quite careful of the use of cryptocurrency,” Merton Lam, head of the digital asset firm Crypto HK, told AFP. So the world’s second-largest economy likely sees Hong Kong as “a testing ground” for the technology, he said. “Crypto is a global thing” and people in Hong Kong can already use major international exchanges such as Binance, but local operators like HashKey can be convenient for those who want to transfer cash into crypto, Lam said. Etelka Bogardi, a financial technology lawyer at Reed Smith, said the timing was good for HashKey given the “very buoyant IPO market”, but the city’s crypto-friendly policies had also played a role. “Hong Kong in particular in the last 12, 18 months has really pushed ahead with a lot of regulations, clarifications, pushes by the administration to make it a more facilitative environment” for blockchain technology,” she said. – AFP

was established in 2018 and runs an exchange alongside other ventures, were trading down 1.95% at HK$6.55 (RM3.43) on its market debut, after the group raised US$205 million in an initial public offering. CEO Xiao Feng hailed the debut as a “glorious day” that showed how “taking the compliant route can also lead to success”. “As entrepreneurs, we come from mainland (China), but HashKey is a homegrown Hong Kong company,”

tough stance on it. While trading and mining of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is banned in mainland China, eye-catching adverts for the sector are a common sight in semi-autonomous Hong Kong. Authorities there have taken steps to regulate the fast-evolving industry in a bid to get ahead of other financial centres such as Dubai and Singapore. Shares in HashKey Group, which

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s biggest licensed cryptocurrency exchange began trading yesterday as the city pushes to become a global hub for the technology despite Beijing’s

Attendees are seen at the IPO launch of HashKey at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday. – AFPPIC

China’s MetaX soars 755% on hopes for domestic chipmakers SHANGHAI: Shares in China’s MetaX, which makes high-end chips used to power AI systems, rocketed more than 750% on its debut in Shanghai yesterday, fuelled by hopes of the country’s potential to challenge US powerhouse Nvidia. Both firms make the advanced chips known as graphics processing units (GPUs) which run and train artificial intelligence tools. The GPU sector is dominated by Nvidia, now the world’s most valuable company thanks to frenzied global demand and optimism for AI. Shares in MetaX – which had been priced at 104.66 yuan (RM60.76) in the IPO – soared as much as 755% to 895.00 yuan, before dropping slightly to 730.34 yuan. with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to allow Nvidia to export its advanced H200 chips to the country. H200s are roughly 18 months behind the US company’s most state-of-the-art offerings, which will still be off-limits to China.

China and the US are competing for dominance in AI, and Beijing has reportedly been encouraging tech companies to use homegrown chips owing to Washington’s export restrictions on top-end Nvidia models. However, US President Donald Trump last week said he had agreed

But the move marked a shift away from export curbs imposed by Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden. Those restrictions were first implemented in 2022 over national security concerns as the Chinese

The rally in MetaX Integrated Circuits Shanghai came less than two weeks after another Chinese chipmaker, Moore Threads, surged 425% following a blockbuster US$1.1 billion initial public offering.

MetaX and Moore Threads are much smaller firms but analysts say investors are buying into the prospect of China ramping up its chip industry to eventually rival the US giant.

Thai central bank cuts policy rate by 25 bps, as expected BANGKOK: Thailand’s central bank cut its key interest rate yesterday, as widely expected, as it looks to support a slowing economy grappling with multiple challenges including political uncertainty, a strengthening baht and US tariffs. “The committee assesses that, given apparent economic slowdown as well as heightened risks, monetary policy can be more accommodative,” the central bank said in a statement, though it also acknowledged there was limited policy space. 27 economists in a Reuters poll, was the fifth since October 2024, with rates down by a total of 125 basis points. Gareth Leather, senior Asia Economist at Capital Economics, said he expected two more rate cuts by the end of next year.

economy grew 1.2% in the third quarter from a year earlier, its slowest pace in four years. The economy, which has lagged regional peers, has struggled with multiple challenges this year, including US tariffs, high household debt, a surging baht, a border conflict with Cambodia and political uncertainty ahead of elections in early February. The baht has risen by 9% against the dollar this year, the second-biggest

“The near-term outlook remains subdued, with soft private consumption and weak government spending set to weigh on growth through next year.” Southeast Asia’s second-largest

The BOT said it still expects the economy to grow by 2.2% this year but it has cut its forecast for 2026 to 1.5%, from 1.6% previously. Yesterday’s cut, expected by 26 of

The Bank of Thailand’s monetary policy committee voted unanimously to cut the one-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 1.25% during its final review of the year.