Fusang delays security-token IPO amid market jitters

A Malaysia-based digital securities exchange has decided to put a brake on its security token initial public offering (IPO), as global uncertainties caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine continue to send jitters through the markets.

Licensed in Hong Kong and Malaysia, Fusang Corp. announced Wednesday it is deferring the IPO of its FSC security token that was originally set to list on its own exchange on March 31.

Fusang’s move comes as many companies around the world have delayed or canceled their IPOs since Russia invaded Ukraine. For example, a Japanese online bank earlier this month postponed its IPO that could’ve brought up its market capitalization to 300 billion yen (US$2.5 billion).

Fusang gained regulatory approval for the IPO of its security token back in January. The tokens — representing Fusang’s shares in digital form, recorded on a blockchain — were slated to be listed on the company’s own Fusang Exchange.

According to the original plan, Fusang was set to offer 2.5 million shares at a fixed price of US$4 apiece, for a total offering of US$10 million. It was supposed to be the world’s first IPO of equity tokens that are fully regulated, according to the company.

“Unfortunately, the world today is volatile, to say the least,” Henry Chong, CEO of Fusang, told Forkast. “We decided that even though we had a full book, we didn’t want to go out into the secondary markets in such a volatile time.”

“It would be in the best interests for all of us — not only as a company and shareholders, but really the entire market and the security token industry — if we ensure that when we do this, we really do it right,” Chong said.

Trading activities on Fusang Exchange remain uninterrupted, he added.

Security token offerings — which involve the issuance of digital tokens in the form of regulated securities using blockchain technology — have increasingly become available as more traditional financial institutions look to tap into the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

In June, for example, Singapore-based DBS Bank issued its first security token offering — a S$15 million (US$11 million) digital bond — on its DBS digital exchange.