Crypto Exchange Apifiny to Go Public Via $530M SPAC

key takeaways

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022
Apifiny has partnered with over 20 of the top 100 crypto exchanges by trading volume including Huobi Global, OKEx, Kucoin, OKCoin and Blockchain.com

Digital asset trading platform Apifiny Group is the latest crypto company to go public via a special purpose acquisition company.

Apifiny has entered a $530 million agreement with Abri SPAC I to become a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. The combined company is valued at $530 million, including a contribution of up to $57 million of cash held in Abri’s trust account

“We aim to build a truly global digital asset trading network,” Haohan Xu, CEO of Apifiny, told Blockworks. “Going public is just the beginning of the journey.”

Apifiny sees going public as a means to accelerate growth, become fully regulated and acquire customers more quickly Erez Simha, the company’s president and CFO, told Blockworks.

“When you look at the profile of the team at Abri, they’re highly operational and have many years of private equity experience which I’m sure will contribute to us later on,” Simha said. “At the end of the day, we want to have fun with what we’re doing and want to focus on the business, and I think this has met the criteria we put to ourselves before choosing a partner.”

Founded in 2018, Apifiny, has partnered with over 20 of the top 100 crypto exchanges by trading volume including Huobi Global, OKEx, Kucoin, OKCoin and Blockchain.com.

Last year, Apifiny was granted a US FINRA broker-dealer license, joining other crypto trading companies like Coinbase, Gemini and Circle.

The company’s board of members include Tim Murphy, former deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Laurence Charney, former partner of Ernst & Young and; Samuel Shen, CEO of Vnet Group, among others.

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