Reuters – Canaan Inc., the first company to manufacture Bitcoin-specific Application-Specific Integrated Chips (ASICs), has failed to complete their IPO application, and due to a six month time lapse since the opening of their filing, the IPO will not be completed at this time.
Canaan filed their IPO application six months ago. Initially, their IPO fundraising goals started at $2B, but after the cryptocurrency markets continued to slide, they revised their figures to $1B, then $400M.
Canaan’s History
Since 2013, Canaan has been one of the largest producers of large scale mining equipment. Unlike many other competitors, their equipment must be bought in bulk, targeting large-scale Bitcoin mining operations. They offer cutting-edge 7 nm chips, that promise hashing capabilities of up to 20 TH/s, all in an open-source package.
Although Canaan’s current IPO application won’t be finished, they can refile their application at any time. Canaan is one of three mining manufacturers filing IPO’s on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The others are Ebang and Bitmain, whose IPO has caused quite the stir in the cryptocurrency space. Bitmain is still in the filing process.
IPO Woes
It does not seem like the lapse in application was due to regulation issues. The changes in the IPO fundraising targets hints that they might be having trouble convincing investors to participate in the IPO.
In addition, regulators seem to be warming up to cryptocurrency. Two weeks ago, the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) issued a statement that they would be looking to expand their work with “virtual assets” companies. Their aim would be to help clean up the grey area surrounding cryptocurrencies, that exists “in light of the significant risks virtual assets pose to investors.”
Some people close to the deal are casting doubts on the future of the IPO. A senior equity capital markets banker, who wished not to be named, explained:
with the bitcoin price dropping so much this year, there’s a lot of uncertainties over their business. If we cannot forecast their financials, how can we sell their IPOs?
