Binance-backed Indonesian crypto exchange considers IPO

Jakarta-based crypto exchange Tokocrypto is considering a public market debut over the next two or three years, Nikkei reported on Wednesday.

“I’m saying two years because we need to be profitable for at least more than two years before listing. We are already profitable now. Our key focus at Tokocrypto is to grow the business further, expand our operations to more parts of Indonesia and make crypto mainstream in the country,” Tokocrypto CEO Pang Xue Kai said.

“Valuation-wise, it is premature to talk about as an IPO is still two to three years down the road, but a close reference would be Coinbase of the U.S. Currently, we are monitoring the market, scaling the business, building the team and products,” he added.

Founded in 2018, Tokocrypto is regulated under Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade by the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, also known as Bappebti.

Tokocrypto has ties with the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, with the Indonesian firm receiving an undisclosed investment from Binance one year ago. Tokocrypto also launched a sale of its Tokocrypto (TKO) tokens on Binance earlier this year. Last year, the company also rolled out an upgraded crypto exchange powered by Binance Cloud.

Indonesia has been emerging as a major hotspot for cryptocurrency activity recently despite the government banning crypto-based payments in 2017. Last week, a major local crypto trading platform, Pintu, raised $6 million from investors including Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase.