Bitmain is the biggest name when it comes to cryptocurrency mining equipment manufacturers. The company has been coming out with the latest and the most powerful of equipment which are usually considered to be the ‘gold standard’ for cryptocurrency mining. Latest reports from Fortune indicate that Bitmain, which made $1.1 Billion in the first quarter of this financial year, is all set to file for an IPO shortly.
Bitmain, which made over a billion dollars in profit in the first quarter has set a modest target of $2 to $3 Billion as profits of the entire year - which they are expected to easily surpass. Last month, Bitmain had raised $400 Million via a funding from Sequoia Capital. The company is now expected to get another round of funding which would help raise its evaluation to $14 Billion. This is a significant leap from Bitmain’s most recent evaluation in early June, which had put it at $12 Billion.
The news of a Bitmain IPO has been making rounds for quite some time now. However, it appears that it is much closer to becoming a reality now than ever before. A KPMG audit of Bitmain, as per Fortune’s Term Sheet, reveals that Bitmain had made a profit of $1.2 Billion in net profit last year. Comparing this with the massive first-quarter gains of this year - it appears that Bitmain is all set to take things to the next level with their IPO.
An email obtained by Fortune indicates that Bitmain plans to file for an IPO very soon. However, no date has been specified as of now. Jihan Wu, the co-founder of the company, had stated earlier that a Bitmain IPO is expected to take place in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), or another country which deals with US-Dollar denominated shares.
The money that Bitmain has been raising is being invested into a number of other crypto-related as well as regular businesses. Bitmain acquired a stake in Block.one - the company that created EOS. Moreover, Bitmain has also invested in the likes of Circle, as well as the Opera web browser. In addition to these investments, Bitmain has also shown an active interest in Artificial Intelligence and is expected to expand their AI operations in the near future.
Previous expectations indicated that Bitmain’s IPO would help the company gain massive amounts of capital - helping them reach as much as $30 to $40 Billion with the help of public capital investments. Bitmain has been one of the most impressive players when it comes to the world of cryptocurrencies. It occupies between 75 to 80% of the cryptocurrency mining equipment business - and has recently broken several barriers by creating ASIC mining equipment for cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and ZCash - which were previously considered as ‘ASIC Proof’.
A Bitmain IPO is indeed expected to be good for the company’s evaluation and their long-term plans. While critics claim that cryptocurrency mining is a dying industry - and one which is facing a major slowdown, Bitmain’s profits paint a different portrait altogether!