Malaysian property developer Hatten Land is teaming up with Singapore fintech Hydra X to jointly develop what they describe as first-of-a-kind cryptocurrency exchanges in Singapore and Malaysia.
Hatten said its wholly-owned subsidiary Hatten Technology had signed a joint venture agreement with Hydra X to develop the crypto exchanges, subject to regulatory approval in both countries.
Believed to be the first such exchanges to focus on listing and trading of newly-minted ‘clean’ or ‘virgin’ Bitcoins, eco-friendly Bitcoin wrapper tokens and other green cryptocurrency and credits, the new Hatten-Hydra X venture will also provide custody services for the cryptocurrencies and tokens that are being traded.
In the unregulated crypto market, freshly-minted Bitcoins with no transaction history can potentially command a premium. So too can green Bitcoins which are mined sustainably using clean, renewable energy sources.
As every crypto transaction is recorded on distributed ledgers, regulated financial institutions can reject Bitcoins if they have been used for illegal activities, hence the higher value and demand for newly-minted Bitcoins.
Listed on the Singapore Exchange’s Catalist board for fast-growing companies, Hatten Land is moving into digital assets as a more lucrative alternative to its residential and commercial property holdings in Malaysia, including shopping malls. Headquartered in Melaka, it is re-purposing its malls for the new digital economy through blockchain activity.
Hatten Land has formed other partnerships for the installation of solar panels on the mall rooftops, including more than 6,000 solar panels on the roof of Melaka’s largest mall, and will potentially build large-scale solar photovoltaic facilities – all to enable environmentally-friendly cryptocurrency mining. That will start with 3,000 mining rigs to be operated with two different partners. Digital assets derived from these new activities could also be listed or traded on the new crypto exchanges.
Colin Tan, executive chair and managing director of Hatten Land, said the venture with Hydra X was strategic to the company’s digital and blockchain initiatives.
“The listing and trading of digital assets will significantly enhance the value proposition of our strategic pivot towards the digital economy,” Tan said in a statement.
“While cryptocurrencies are becoming mainstream, we foresee a growing demand for virgin and green Bitcoins amid the rising ESG trend and we look forward to harness the opportunities in this area.”
Hatten will hold a 60 per cent equity stake and Hydra X 40 per cent in the new venture. As partial consideration for the development costs for the crypto exchanges, Hydra X will be issued new ordinary shares of Hatten Land, and Hydra X will become a shareholder of the company.
“We look forward to a fruitful partnership with Hatten Land to enable global trading in the digital capital markets space while playing a part in promoting environmental sustainability by addressing concerns of socially conscious investors,” said Daryl Low, founding chief executive of Hydra X.
Hydra X already offers digital technology infrastructure to global financial institutions in the capital markets space, including regulatory compliant, end-to-end multi-asset infrastructure solutions which allow interoperability between digital and traditional assets. Its customers include financial institutions such as Singapore’s DBS Bank.
Hydra X also provides custodian services for digital securities under the experimental FinTech Regulatory Sandbox of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).