Hong Kong Stock Exchange CEO Casts Doubt on Crypto Miner IPO Filings

New comments from the chief executive of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange may have dampened the hopes of several cryptocurrency mining giants that have filed for initial public offerings.

QQ on Thursday, HKEX CEO Charles Li Xiaojia said that companies seeking to list on the stock exchange must have a "Sustainable" business model.

While Li did not talk about specific company applications, he answered in general about HKEX listing requirements in a response to a question on the crypto miner IPO filings from the news source.

Three top crypto mining companies, Bitmain, Canaan and Ebang, have all filed to list on the HKEX, but none has received approval to date.

The question for the HKEX is, "Can you still do this business, can you make this money?".

The HKEX will "Adhere to the principle of market adaptability" when reviewing companies' IPO applications, including those of crypto miners, he added.

Filed its IPO application with the HKEX in September of last year, while Canaan.

There have already been signs that the HKEX is reluctant to approve.

Last month, a person involved in the talks told CoinDesk that the exchange is "Very hesitant to actually approve these bitcoin mining companies because the industry is so volatile."

Its draft IPO prospectus last month, but stated in the filing that it saw "Significant decreases" in revenue and gross profit in Q3 2018.