Bitcoin Group’s plans to raise $20 million at 20 cents a share on the ASX are still on track, despite a slight delay.
It had been aiming to list in November, but chief financial officer Allan Guo says now a listing is more likely to occur early next year.
“We’re just waiting for a few things to come through. We’re going through lawyers, accountants, we’ve see a lot of them, 20 plus, but they don’t understand (bitcoin) because it’s still early stage. So it takes a lot of time to explain all of this,” Guo says.
“So we’re waiting for a few things to come through. So we may be delayed for a bit. If not for Christmas I would have assumed late December, but because of Christmas, maybe sometime early next year.”
Guo says the hope is for Bitcoin Group’s listing to give digital currency credibility and legitimacy in Australia, and to increase the flow of capital going to Australian startups operating in the space.
“There are people building exchange platforms, as well as payment systems, wallets, all the technology, but for us we see the biggest problem with bitcoin is the lack of understanding, the lack of trust. The transparency, the legitimacy, that’s what we want to bring,” he says.
“The community here is good, but it’s not that big. We want to bring it to another level, to let people know that this is legal, this is safe. Hopefully once it’s listed it’s seen as government approved. Because a lot of people ask, is this legal? People use it to buy drugs, and this and that.
“But by expanding the knowledge of bitcoin, the amount of people that know about it, that will help them understand it, and once they understand it they will fall in love with it for sure.”
Kye began his career at a Fairfax daily on the North-West Coast of Tasmania. He has since taken his belongings, and keen interest in technology, to Melbourne. He has a bachelor of Arts majoring in Political Science from the University of Tasmania and a Graduate Diploma in Journalism from RMIT University.
