The world’s largest cryptocurrency mining equipment maker Bitmain has failed to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after its application for an initial public offering (IPO) expired on Tuesday.
The Beijing-based company, which submitted its IPO prospectus last August with CICC as its sole underwriter, had hoped to become the first in the industry to list on a major exchange.
But the IPO dream shattered after the bitcoin hype showed signs of fading, which was followed by shrinking demand for mining equipment, Tyler Xiong, the CMO of crypto wallet app Bixin told KrASIA.
“Bitmain is in too deep with BCH (Bitcoin Cash), and the value of BCH has dropped a lot,” he said. BCH is now trading at around HKD 1,250 and at less than one-tenth of its peak value from last May.
In an internal letter to Bitmain employees that was leaked to media, the company’s founders said that despite the fact its IPO application would soon lapse there was little to be concerned about. “At the moment, the company has ample cash and our supply chain is functioning well … in the future, we will restart IPO efforts at an appropriate time,” the letter read.
Though this IPO failure could discourage mining equipment makers because it shows that the regulators are “still not very welcoming” to the mining industry, Bitmain and fellow mining equipment maker Canaan Creative are still exploring IPO options elsewhere, Xiong said.
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Editor: Nadine Freischlad