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.