The China-headquartered Bitcoin (BTC) mining giant BitMain Technologies has officially filed draft IPO (initial public offering) papers with the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (HKEX) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong to raise funds. A number of details remain redacted such as the issue size, the timetable for the public offering, the valuation details, and the future plans of the company. According to some media reports, the company is raising as much as $3 billion.
The draft IPO papers offer the key financial information of the largest cryptocurrency mining firm co-founded by billionaires Jihan Wu and Micree Zhan. It shows that BitMain's revenue increased from US$137.3 million in 2015 to US$2,517.7 million in 2017, representing a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 328.2%, and increased by 936.6% from US$274.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 to US$2,845.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. During the same period, its profit for the year or period increased from US$48.6 million in 2015 to US$701.4 million in 2017 with a CAGR of 279.9%, and increased by 794.8% from US$83.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 to US$742.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018.
BitMain's adjusted EBITDA, which is its profit before taxation excluding fair value changes of convertible redeemable preferred shares, finance cost, share-based compensation expenses, depreciation and amortization increased from US$57.9 million in 2015 to US$138.1 million in 2016 and further to US$1,152.1 million in 2017, increased from US$101.8 million for the first half of 2017 to US$1,122.9 million for the first half of 2018.
BitMain engages in the design of ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) chips for cryptocurrency mining and artificial intelligence (AI) applications, sales of cryptocurrency mining hardware and AI hardware, management of mining farms, the operation of mining pools and other cryptocurrency-related business. According to Frost & Sullivan, a business consulting firm, BitMain is the largest global ASIC-based cryptocurrency mining hardware company in terms of sales revenue in 2017, accounting for a market share of 74.5%. BitMain offers a variety of mining hardware equipped with proprietary ASIC chips under its Antminer brand. It specializes in the front-end and back-end of cryptocurrency mining ASIC chip design.
Earlier this week, BitMain launched its first generation of 7nm ASIC chips, currently the most advanced Integrated Circuit (IC) fabrication technology. Compared to its previous ASIC chips, the latest 7nm ASIC chips have significantly improved in computing performance and power efficiency. In addition, the company is developing the next generation of 7nm ASIC chips.
The news of a Bitmain IPO has been making rounds for quite some time now. Canaan Creative and Ebang International Holdings, two of Bitmain’s biggest competitors, are also looking to raise funds through an IPOs in Hong Kong.
