Bitmain is Plotting Another Attempt to Go Public, Mulls U.S. IPO

Chinese Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain Technologies is considering a second attempt to go public, but this time in the United States, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News.

According to the sources, the company’s shareholders are discussing with advisers the plan to list its shares in New York before the end of 2019. The filing of Bitmain IPO prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected in July, although no final decision had been taken as regards the venue.

The source added the IPO size is also still under discussion and has not been finalized, but it could raise $300 million to $500 million.

Bitmain revives its IPO plans on the heels of a recent bull run in cryptocurrency markets. The abrupt upside movement of the bitcoin price, which has made over 100 percent year-to-date gain, follows its free-fall by almost 75% in 2018. Although the No.1 cryptocurrency is still far from its all-time highs of $20,000, which it hit in late 2017, crypto enthusiasts are increasingly optimistic that the 2019 bounce is real and is set to continue.

Bitmain launches Antminer T17

The move also comes weeks after Bitmain’s launch of its S17 set of miners, which includes the Antminer S17 Pro, Antminer S17 and the Antminer T17, which allows the company to capitalize on Bitcoin’s recent rally that fueled an increased desire to mine Cryptocurrencies .

Bitmain had been seeking to go public in Hong Kong to apparently raise up to $3 billion of new capital and achieve a market valuation of more than $15 billion. That plan, though, has been abandoned, and the firm’s Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) application lapsed in March.

Major mining firms Ebang and Canaan also filed IPO applications with the HKEX in 2018, with the latter also shifting to US markets, but neither has received any approval to date.

Bitmain had hoped to become the first cryptocurrency business to list on a major exchange, with an IPO was expected to take place during the first quarter of 2019. But in the six months since the company notified local market regulators of its flotation plans, Bitmain has faced a war on multiple fronts, including declining crypto prices, poor sales and technical performance of its mining hardware.

Chinese Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain Technologies is considering a second attempt to go public, but this time in the United States, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News.

The source added the IPO size is also still under discussion and has not been finalized, but it could raise $300 million to $500 million.

Bitmain launches Antminer T17

Major mining firms Ebang and Canaan also filed IPO applications with the HKEX in 2018, with the latter also shifting to US markets, but neither has received any approval to date.