Swedish Crypto Firm Hilbert Continues to Aim for Potential U.S. IPO — Interview

By Fabiana Negrin OchoaA recent setback in advancing digital-asset legislation in the U.S. disappointed those hoping for more clarity in the world's biggest crypto market, but that hasn't dented Swedish firm Hilbert's plans to prepare for a potential listing there.It would be foolish to ignore the U.S. market, with or without regulation, says Barnali Biswal, chief executive of digital-asset specialist Hilbert Group, whose capital arm runs quantitative hedge-fund strategies.Hilbert had about $459 million in assets under management as of end-August. With clientele mainly in Europe and Asia, the company has been cautious about entering the U.S. primarily because of the regulatory environment in the country prior to the current administration, Biswal said on the sidelines of TOKEN2049 in Singapore.The Sweden-listed firm has been eyeing an American listing for some time and wants to get the timing right."What we want to do is we want to be ready. A bull market certainly helps...but it's also the forward projection, and a lot of things that go into telling a strong equity narrative need to be in place," Biswal said.Hilbert's most recent fundraising round was proactively aimed at being "U.S.-listing ready", the CEO said. It is already going through the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board audit--a requirement for U.S. public companies--and has held talks with investment banks.Those conversations have involved how to improve Hilbert's visibility with U.S. investors ahead of listing. "Hilbert is highly Nordic-centered name," Biswal said, though she sees strong interest in non-infrastructure crypto firms as there aren't very many of those around.As regulators enact more crypto frameworks, she expects more avenues of engagement to open up, but for now the timeline and IPO structure remain unclear.It could be within the next year or two, but it's hard to know exactly when. "The board views this as an important value unlock for shareholders, so that is the end goal. But the timing is crucial," Biswal said."We are just coming out of a very tough bear market," and the U.S. is about to have midterm elections, the results of which could change the environment for crypto, she added.Some investment bank advisors and some Hilbert board members prefer either a dual listing or an uplisting, whereby a company delists from one exchange to migrate to another.There are some positives to taking the reverse listing route, but that seems more complex for a firm of Hilbert's size, Biswal said, adding that a final decision will depend on market conditions.Hilbert is also considering a listing in Asia--a jurisdiction it regards as important for digital assets--as it learns more about the region's public markets and crypto-related regulation."We've started the work...the board hasn't made any kind of clean decision yet because we are in the process of gathering info," the CEO said.Write to Fabiana Negrin Ochoa at [email protected]