Bitmain, the world's largest producer of mining equipment, has managed to raise $ 400 million. The company should be listed on the stock market next September.
Bitmain: a fundraiser before an IPO
The website China Money Network reports that this round, worth $ 12 billion for the Chinese company, was led by Sequoia Capital China, a venture capital firm active in the cryptosystems. currencies. This information has not been publicly confirmed by Bitmain.
If this new valuation corresponds to internal estimates of the company, it would exceed that of many analysts, who believe that the company should be worth between 8.8 and 10 billion dollars.
At the same time, Bitmain prepares its IPO on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, scheduled for September. The company hopes to reach a market capitalization of between 30 and 40 billion dollars.
Founded in 2013, Bitmain designs ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits) that equip its miners with crypto-currencies. The Chinese giant would control about 80% of this market, while a number of companies aim to challenge its leading position.
Canaan Creative, its main competitor, recently filed an IPO application in Hong Kong. The firm, which weighs about 15% of the Bitcoin miners' market, estimates it can raise up to $ 2 billion through this offer.
The first crypto-society in the world?
Bitcoin Mining with BitmainSi Bitmain's IPO was successful, becoming the most valuable crypto-enterprise in the world. Its valuation is also twice that of the manufacturer of graphics chips AMD. It has benefited greatly from the popularity of mining digital assets such as Ether, and has seen its market capitalization rise to $ 14.8 billion.
Bitmain has also started designing ASIC chips for applications related to artificial intelligence. Jihan Wu, its CEO, estimates that this sector could represent 50% of the company's revenue within 5 years.
Last month, Bitmain led Circle's fundraising, which offers peer-to-peer exchange services and a trading application for savers. This round should allow him to launch a "stablecoin" backed by the US dollar.