OKCoin founder acquires majority stake in Hong Kong-listed firm

Yet another cryptocurrency exchange seems to be moving closer to a possible back-door listing.

OKC Holdings Corp, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin, has acquired a majority stake in LEAP Holdings Group, a public company listed in Hong Kong, CoinDesk reported.

According to the details of the deal, OKC Holdings has purchased about 3.2 billion shares of the firm for HK$0.15 (around $0.02) per share.

The deal, which was completed on January 14, makes OKC Holdings the largest shareholder of LEAP Holdings. It now has 60.49 percent ownership in the latter and the same percentage of voting rights. OKCoin founder Mingxing “Star” Xu has become the largest individual shareholder of the publicly listed firm.

The deal makes the way for OKCoin for a possible back-door listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX).

Cryptocurrency exchanges are increasingly considering going public via reverse mergers. Last year, Huobi acquired majority stake in a HKEX-listed firm called Pantronics Holdings.

More recently, BTHMB signed a binding letter of intent (LOI) to merge with Blockchain Industries. According to the official release, “The companies anticipate merging into a single entity, becoming a publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange company.”