The first known IPO (Initial Public Offering) to accept digital currency has been announced in Australia. Melbourne-based West Coast Aquaculture group is raising capital on the Sydney Stock Exchange (SSX) a smaller cousin to the dominant Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
As part of the capital raise, West Coast Aquaculture is offering to accept payment in USDT (Tether) citing stability and trading velocity as underling the decision rather than accepting Bitcoin or Ethereum tokens.
The CEO of Stax, an equity raising platform which offers digital currency as well as fiat payment options, Kenny Lee, said:
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
West Coast Aquaculture does not use any blockchain technology in their business, but operates a fish farm in Malaysia. Capital raised in the IPO is cited as being for expansion of that fish farm.
Businesses (including Piper Alderman) are increasingly offering payment options using digital currency as this technology continues to grow in popularity.