Asia-Pacific Exchanges Tighten Crypto Treasury Rules
Asia-Pacific stock exchanges have tightened listing rules to curb the crypto treasury trend in corporate IPOs. Hong Kong’s HKEX rejected at least five “cash company” applications under its digital-asset limits. India’s BSE blocked an IPO linked to crypto, and Australia’s ASX bars firms holding over 50% in cash-like assets. MSCI’s proposal to exclude high-reserve firms from global indices adds further pressure. Traders are now steered toward regulated crypto ETFs for secure digital-asset exposure. Japan’s JPX remains permissive, with 14 Bitcoin holders still listed. These moves reflect growing regulatory caution around crypto treasury strategies and could weaken BTC liquidity and sentiment.
Bearish
These tightened listing rules and proposed index exclusions increase regulatory scrutiny on corporate crypto treasury models, likely reducing new BTC issuances from public companies and limiting passive institutional inflows. In the short term, traders may see lower liquidity and downward pressure on BTC as fewer firms hold large reserves. Over the long term, the shift toward regulated crypto ETFs could stabilize access but signal sustained caution among institutions, keeping BTC sentiment muted.