The World’s largest cryptocurrency company seeks to open IPO; This is how huge it is

History may soon be inked in the world of cryptocurrencies. We are all aware of Bitcoin who once upon a time struck the trading markets across the nation by touching a massive $20,000 in December last year. Since then, everyone has kept an eagle-eye on what’s cooking in Bitcoin space. Not one day passes by where you do not hear about something happening there. However, time has changed and Bitcoin is now remembered as the digital currency which has entered a bubble phase. Many experts have called Bitcoin a bubble that will burst because of not having any regulatory or banking back up. It’s almost like trading in an illusion that has no future trajectory. Interestingly, what happens if the world’s largest Bitcoin mining company plans to open an initial public offering? Yes you have heard it right, Bitmain Technologies the world’s largest designer of ASIC chips for Bitcoin mining has showed its interest in becoming listed on Hong Kong exchanges. 

Guess what! To get listed, for the first time the Bitmain Technologies has opened its financial book. The performance Bitmain has seen on the back of Bitcoin is breathtaking indeed. 

In a detailed draft to The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, Bitmain said, “the application proof is not the final listing document and may be updated or revised by the company from time to time in accordance with the rules governing the listing of securities on the The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. 

Bitmain is privately owned company with headquarters in Beijing China. It is referred among the world’s most powerful, controversial and secretive companies. 

Apart from Bitcoin, the company has also focused on developing mining hardware with different algorithms covering major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin Cash, Ether, Litecoin, Dash and Zcash. This makes Bitmain one of the few companies offering mining solutions to various digital coins. 

As of June 2018, Bitmain has opened 11 mining farms in the PRC located in Sichuan Province, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia with an aggregate capacity to store approximately 2 lakh sets of mining hardware. 

Further, Bitmain also operates two mining pools in terms of BTC.com and Antpool which are world’s largest and second largest Bitcoin mining pools in terms of computing power. As on August 2018, these two mining pools cumulatively contributed about 37.1% of the aggregate hashrate of the Bitcoin network. 

Notably, Bitmain’s revenue increased from $137.3 million in 2015 to %2,517.7 million in 2017 - witnessing a CAGR of 328.2%. The company also rose by 936.6% from $274.5 million recorded in last six months ended June 30, 2017 to $2,845.5 million in first six months of this year ending June 2018. 

Adjusted profit rose to $952.2 million in 1H2018 compared to $83 million in the same period of previous year. Not only this, Bitmain’s profit was at just $48.6 million in 2015, further increasing to $113.6 million in 2016 and later to $952.6 million in 2017. This adjusted net profit is excluding share-based compensation expenses and fair value changes of convertible redeemable preferred shares. 

Riding on the popularity of Bitcoin, the Bitmain’s customer base increased from nearly 6,000 in 2015 to over 46,000 in 2017 and further to 80,000 in last six months of 2018. 

Talking about cryptocurrencies future, Bitmain said, “There is no assurance that usage of cryptocurrencies will continue to grow. As our business focuses on cryptocurrency mining and relies heavily on the cryptocurrency market, any lack of usage of or fade in public interest for cryptocurrencies may adversely affect our business, future prospects, results of operations and financial conditions."

From its peak trademark, Bitcoin has even plunged to below $5000.