SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) – Hatten Land on Monday (Nov 1) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Hatten Technology, has entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement with Singapore fintech company Hydra X to jointly develop and operate cryptocurrency exchanges.
The crypto exchanges in Singapore and Malaysia will focus on the listing and trading of newly minted Bitcoins.
Hatten Land said that under the JV agreement, the group will hold a 60 per cent equity stake while the remaining 40 per will be held by Hydra X.
“As partial consideration for the development costs for the crypto exchanges, Hydra X will be issued new ordinary shares of Hatten Land and Hydra will become a shareholder of the company,” Hatten Land noted.
Hatten Land highlighted that newly minted Bitcoins which the new exchanges will focus on have no transaction history and are considered “pristine”, thus commanding a higher value.
The new exchanges will also focus on creating green Bitcoins, which are mined with renewable energy sources.
In addition to operating the exchanges, the JV will also generate revenue by providing custody services for the cryptocurrencies and tokens that are being traded.
The JV is the latest initiative undertaken by Hatten Land to repurpose its malls in Melaka and align its business model with the growth trends of the digital economy. The group had announced plans last month to create a “metaverse” digital twin of Melaka and to develop a dedicated token system, as well as to create digital assets, including non-fungible tokens.
Hatten Land is also working with partners to install solar panels on rooftops of its malls and potentially build large-scale solar photovoltaic facilities of 100 MW-peak. These panels will enable environmentally friendly cryptocurrency mining, which will commence with 3,000 mining rigs that will be operated with two different partners.
The digital assets derived from the company’s new initiatives may also be listed or traded on the crypto exchanges, said Hatten Land.
Separately, Hatten Land has also proposed to issue 20 million new ordinary shares for an aggregate consideration of $1.2 million, or six cents per share, to Golden Summit International. Seventy per cent of the net proceeds will be used to fund the group’s new business initiatives and the rest will be used for working capital.
Mr Colin Tan, executive chairman and managing director of Hatten Land, said: “While cryptocurrencies are becoming mainstream, we foresee a growing demand for ‘virgin’ and ‘green’ Bitcoins amid the rising environmental, social and corporate governance trend and we look forward to harnessing the opportunities in this area.”
Hydra X chief executive Daryl Low noted: “This initiative is a step towards fulfilling Hydra X’s aim to help catalyse the institutional adoption of digital assets. We look forward to a fruitful partnership with Hatten Land to enable global trading in the digital capital market space while playing a part in promoting environmental sustainability by addressing concerns of socially conscious investors.”
A trading halt for Hatten Land was called on Oct 28 afternoon, with shares ending at 5.9 cents. Trading resumes on Monday.