Asian stock exchanges slam the door on Bitcoin Treasury companies

Major Asian exchanges are rejecting companies that focus on government bonds from digital assets. According to experts, a strict approach is needed to prevent markets from being exposed to ‘serious volatility risks’.

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing has rejected applications from five firms seeking to acquire Bitcoin treasury strategies in recent months, according to people familiar with the plans: Bloomberg reported.

India’s Bombay Stock Exchange last month denied India’s first listed company to try to adopt the Bitcoin standard, Jetking Infotrain’s listing application, after the IT training company planned to allocate 60% of the money raised to Bitcoin.

In Australia, the ASX prohibits listed companies from holding more than half of their assets in cash or cash-like assets, effectively ruling out DAT pivots.

Joshua Chu, a lawyer, lawyer, lecturer and co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association, shared Declutter that fragmentation across Asian jurisdictions is likely to continue as each market prioritizes different policy objectives.

“Singapore’s regulatory focus is on payments and the regulated use of tokenized payment instruments, while development in Hong Kong is more product-oriented and focuses on governance, investor protection and the regulatory treatment of crypto-backed offerings in the capital markets,” Chu explains.

“India is taking a much stricter stance on crypto rebrands and related activities, and Australia is maintaining a cautious, market-oriented stance in its exchange frameworks,” he added.

The crackdown comes after retail investors lost an estimated $17 billion in digital asset trading, according to a recent report from 10X Research.

Companies Adopting the Bitcoin Treasury Strategy

The setback comes as hundreds of companies worldwide have adopted the Bitcoin treasury model developed by Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc., which now owns more than 640,000 BTC worth about $70 billion.

This week, Citi Strategy gave a “buy” rating with a $485 price target, but warned that the stock “poses significant risks due to its positioning as Bitcoin leverage,” noting that even moderate Bitcoin price declines could lead to greater shareholder losses.

On prediction market Myriad, launched by Declutter‘s parent company Dastan, users overwhelmingly expect Strategy to stay the course during its Bitcoin acquisition, leaving only a 7% chance that the company will sell Bitcoin this year.

“The elephant in the room is: Are DATs really justified?” Chu wondered, noting: “Without a credible business case, rigorous governance, robust custody and transparent risk controls, such DAT structures may become out of alignment with shareholder interests and could give rise to the kind of liquidity and governance risks that regulators are concerned about.”

He warned against relaxing traditional business rules for crypto treasuries, noting that they protect against “volatility arbitrage grenades disguised as Bitcoin plays” that have led to the recent retail losses.

Traditional corporate rules should still apply to government bonds of digital assets,” Chu said, warning that relaxing them risks repeating the “speculative frenzy of the dot-com era without revenue support.”

Siddarth Bharwani, JMD and CFO of Jetking Infotrain, said Declutter The company’s appeal to the Securities Appellate Tribunal after BSE’s rejection “is not about confrontation, but about clarification.”

He called the rejection “a missed opportunity to explore how Indian listed companies can responsibly innovate” with Bitcoin in ways that add long-term shareholder value.

“India is unique in its challenges,” Bharwani said, noting that while there is demand for digital assets and thriving ecosystems being built, “a lack of clarity is causing founders to move abroad.”

Countries like Japan and the UAE are creating regulatory frameworks, he added, while India, Hong Kong and Australia “must openly support such innovations.”