Aussie aquaculture farm’s ipo now accepts tether

The West Coast Aquaculture Group (WCA) will conduct the first IPO to accept crypto assets in Australia

Stax, a crypto-friendly capital raising platform with its headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, has announced that one of its clients will be in charge of conducting the country’s first initial public offering (IPO) that accepts virtual currency as payment.

The West Coast Aquaculture Group (WCA) is open to investors that want to participate in its offering. Investors can purchase equity in the company with the use of Tether (USDT) or Australian dollars. USDT was chosen over other popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) because it offered better price stability.

The IPO will be managed by Agile Legal and Stax.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Stax, Kenny Lee, emphasised that stablecoins are more capable of providing the benefits of cryptocurrency because they are not as volatile as other digital assets.

“The acceptance of USDT in an IPO is a transformative move in Australia and a significant step forward for cryptocurrency adoption in general. It paves the way for the future of capital markets down under”, Lee stated.

He also revealed that Stax is looking into providing support for additional stablecoins in the future.

“We are democratising access to a market which has been hard for overseas investors to get into, which will only benefit Australian businesses longer term”, he added.

WCA is responsible for operating one of the largest marine farms in Langkawi, Malaysia, where its primary production is to harvest fresh Grouper fish for wholesale and retail customers in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. The capital that is raised from their venture will be used to fund expansions, such as the purchase of new hatchery and nursery facilities.

The company is offering between 10 million and 14 million shares at $0.50 each, which represents between 8.78 per cent and 11.87% of the total available. The WCA’s minimum target is $5 million. After this raise, the company will work on floating its shares on the Sydney Stock Exchange (SSX), with the shares expected to start trading near November 19.

The Chief Executive of SSX, Michael Go, expressed his approval of Stac for its role in facilitating a capital raise supporting USDT.

“As a supporter of innovation in the Capital Markets, the Sydney Stock Exchange applauds STAX for its ability to facilitate the funding of companies with USDT. This is a first, and historic development in the Australian market which will dictate the future of capital raising, particularly for growth companies”, he said.