CXMT's IPO Frenzy: How a Chinese Chipmaker Became a Crypto-Fuelled King

ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is set to become the most valuable company listed on a Chinese stock exchange, just days before its blockbuster initial public offering (IPO) in Shanghai. The memory chip manufacturer, relatively unknown outside of tech circles, is being valued at levels that would surpass the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country’s current largest publicly traded company by market capitalization. This valuation is being driven by a historic upswing in the memory industry, fuelled by surging AI-driven demand and global supply shortages. CXMT’s official IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s tech-focused STAR Market is expected to raise up to $8.6 billion, making it Asia’s largest listing this year. However, the official listing is largely inaccessible to foreign investors due to China’s capital controls and the STAR Market’s high entry barriers, which require a minimum account balance of 500,000 yuan and two years of trading experience. In response, global traders have turned to decentralized crypto infrastructure to gain exposure. On the Hyperliquid platform, a decentralized exchange, perpetual futures contracts tracking CXMT’s expected share price have traded at a significant premium, implying a market capitalization of approximately $425 billion. Eric Chen, co-founder and CEO of Web3 finance firm Injective Labs, noted that the price reflects a prediction of where the stock might open, combined with the premium global investors are willing to pay for access they cannot get through traditional markets.