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Meet the $204bn ASX giant bigger than CBA and sells crypto

Eliza Bavin
·Personal Finance Editor
·2-min read
The ASX logo and board and a Bitcoin.
The new addition to the ASX will be worth more than $200 billon (Source: Getty)

Market darling Afterpay was recently acquired by US payment giant Square for $39 billion – but another interesting and lesser-known part of the transaction is that Square will dual list on the ASX.

What this means is Square will be listing on the ASX to allow Afterpay (APT.AX) shareholders to trade Square shares.

The move is notable as it will make Square the largest company by market capitalisation to be listed on the ASX.

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Not only that, but Square allows customers to buy and hold Bitcoin through its cash app. So, it’s a large change for the ASX which usually doesn’t encourage crypto companies to list.

This also means that the largest company on the ASX will be a fintech company that combines buy-now-pay-later and crypto – a far cry from the usual miners and big banks sitting in the top spots.

Square purchased around 5,000 Bitcoin in October 2020 saying it believes in the digital currency providing monetary freedom for its customers.

“We believe that Bitcoin has the potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the future,” said Square’s chief financial officer, Amrita Ahuja.

“As it grows in adoption, we intend to learn and participate in a disciplined way. For a company that is building products based on a more inclusive future, this investment is a step on that journey.”

The biggest companies on the ASX

While there can be any number of companies listed in Australia, the top 200, known as the ASX 200, are the ones most people invest in and recognise.

The top 10 companies by market capitalisation currently are:

  1. BHP (BHP.AX) - $194 billion

  2. Commonwealth Bank (CBA.AX) - $138 billion

  3. Transurban (TCL.AX) - $108 billion

  4. CSL (CSL.AX) - $97 billion

  5. Macquarie (MQG.AX) - $88.5 billion

  6. Atlassian (TEAM) - $84.5 billion

  7. Westpac (WBC.AX) - $69 billion

  8. NAB (NAB.AX) - $66 billion

  9. ANZ (ANZ.AX) - $61 billion

  10. Wesfarmers (WES.AX) - $53 billion

Square has a market value of $204 billion so will join the ASX in the top spot when it lists after the acquisition is completed in the first half of next year.

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