Australia’s first capital raising platform to accept AUD and cryptocurrency, which operates an aquaculture farm in Malaysia, is accepting crypto assets in its first initial public offering (IPO).
As the part of its capital raising effort before floating on the Sydney Stock Exchange (SSX), STAX – an Aussie crypto-friendly capital raising firm – has announced its client West Coast Aquaculture Group (WCA) would conduct Australia’s first IPO where the Tether digital currency would be accepted as payment.
USDT Use In an IPO Is Transformative
Besides Australian dollars, Tether (USDT) will be used to buy equity in the company by Investors taking part in WCA’s offering. USDT is traded faster and has a stable price, which made it to be chosen over Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). STAX CEO Kenny Lee praised the stablecoins offer as it allows investors to harness all benefits that cryptocurrencies offer since they are not as volatile as other digital assets. He stated as follows:
“The acceptance of USDT in an IPO is a transformative move in Australia and a significant step forward for cryptocurrency adoption in general. It paves the way for the future of capital markets down under.”
Lee also stated that STAX might support additional stablecoins in the future to democratize accessibility to the market for both Australian businesses and overseas investors.
SSX Supports Smaller Cap Companies
Aquaculture based firm WCA reportedly operates one of the largest marine farms in Langkawi, Malaysia. Products from the farm, mainly fresh Grouper fish species, are usually sold to wholesalers and retailers in Malaysia as well as other countries like Singapore and Hong Kong. The company intends to utilize the capital raised for fund expansions, including a new hatchery and nursery facility purchases.
WCA’s Shares, selling at $0.50 each, were put on offer range between 10,000,000 and 14,000,000. However, this represents just between 8.78% and 11.87% of the total target of $5 million. In selling its shares, WCA chose the SSX as its exchange platform since the exchange tends to support offers from smaller cap companies by offering more reasonable listing requirements. Trading of the shares on SSX is expected to begin Nov. 19.
Early last month Singapore’s Eachmile Technologies launched Fishcoin tokens that uses blockchain technology to enable fishers and fish farmers to collect data from seafood imports.
STAX Aids Many Firms to Raise Capital
When applauding STAX for using USDT as a means of capital raise, Michael Go, SSX chief executive, stated:
“This is a first, and historic development in the Australian market which will dictate the future of capital raising, particularly for growth companies.”
SSX had announced its first listing in the first week of August. Mr. Go said the listing of junior gold miner Torque Metals was the first under the exchange’s new strategy that was unveiled in December last year. He promised that SSX would list several more companies before the year ends amid plenty of challenges presented in 2020.
In early May, STAX helped beverage company Australian Product Research Pty Ltd (APR) raise over $5 Million to fund its expansion of its Everlast Branded Products in the Australian market.