Bitpanda, a crypto exchange backed by billionaire investors Peter Thiel and Alan Howard, has ruled out listing in London due to a lack of liquidity in share trading, making it the latest company to shun the UK’s capital markets.
The Austrian group, one of the biggest Europe-based digital asset exchanges, is keenly considering a listing but “it will not be in London”, Eric Demuth, co-founder of Bitpanda, told the Financial Times.
The UK is suffering from a prolonged drought in initial public offerings, with the amount raised from listings in the first half of this year plunging to a 30-year low.
Anxiety is mounting about London’s status as a hub for global capital, with politicians and regulators seeking to revive the UK’s capital markets through a series of reforms in recent years.“
Currently, everybody’s moving away from the [London Stock Exchange],” Demuth said.
He pointed to British fintech Wise, whose shareholders voted last month to switch its primary listing from London to New York in an effort to attract more investors and improve liquidity in its shares.