Aquaculture Firm Completes Australia’s First IPO Raise Using Cryptocurrency

Australia-based West Coast Aquaculture (WCA) has completed an A$5 million (US$3.65 million) initial public offering, becoming the first firm in the nation to use cryptocurrency for its capital raise.

In an announcement provided to CoinDesk on Monday, fintech firm STAX said it had assisted WCA in raising just over 89%, or just over A$4.4 million (US$3.2 million), of the total raise via the stablecoin tether (USDT), a cryptocurrency with its price linked to the U.S. dollar on a 1:1 basis. The remaining funds were raised in Australian dollars.

“We are proud to be part of this historic moment in Australian investment history, said Neo Ching Hoe, CEO and founder of WCA. “We hope this bold initiative helps open the door to more global investment for local companies.”

WCA, an international fisheries company with an Asia Pacific presence, will put the funding towards expanding its operations and building out its supply chain, per the announcement.

STAX describes itself as Australia’s first capital-raising platform to accept both cryptocurrency and Australian dollars.

“The successful WCA capital raise and IPO, paves the way for the future of capital markets in Australia”, said STAX CEO Kenny Lee. “We are allowing access to a market which has been hard for overseas investors to get into, and it will only benefit Australian businesses longer term.”

WCA has now listed for trading on the Sydney Stock Exchange under the SSX code 833.