Auctions Are Back - And This Time, They’re For Everyone

When Google went public in 2004, they didn’t play by Wall Street’s rules. Instead of handing allocations to a select circle of investment banks and their preferred clients, they used a Dutch auction. Investors bid for shares directly, the market set the price, and ordinary people had a real chance to get in at IPO.

At the time, it was hailed as revolutionary. But here’s the problem: it stayed a one-off. The financial establishment quickly went back to business as usual, with IPO allocations reserved for insiders, friends of the house, and institutions. Retail investors were left, as always, to buy in later — usually at a premium.

That ends now.

At ASMX, we’ve built an auction engine into the listing process itself. That means any company coming to market on our platform can choose to sell their shares directly to investors through a transparent, competitive bidding process. No closed doors, no “preferred allocations,” no artificial scarcity. Just price discovery — in real time, on a regulated exchange.

What does this mean for companies?

• Efficient Capital Raising: Companies can set a minimum raise and let demand drive the rest.

• True Price Discovery: Instead of bankers guessing the “right” price, the market decides.

• Investor Engagement: By letting individuals bid, companies build a broader, more loyal shareholder base from day one.

What does this mean for investors?

• Fair Access: No more waiting on the sidelines while institutions take the best allocation.

• Transparent Pricing: See the demand curve as it forms. Bid at your price, not theirs.

• Opportunity: Early access to growth companies that, until now, would have been kept behind closed doors.

This is groundbreaking because it takes a model that was once the preserve of giants like Google and makes it available to any company listing through ASMX. Whether you’re an African fintech, a Dubai clean energy firm, or a European biotech, you can now raise money in a way that’s fair, transparent, and engaging for both sides.

For years, IPO auctions were talked about as “the future.” The truth is, traditional markets never wanted that future to arrive. At ASMX, we’ve made it a feature — and the future is now.