Crypto Mining Giant Bitmain Might Go Public With $18B IPO

Cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain Technologies, Ltd. has been preparing for an IPO in recent weeks.

According to Coindesk, Bitmain could be seeking to raise as much as $18 billion in a public offering, which would value the company between $40 billion and $50 billion. This comes after Bitmain reported $1.1 billion in profit in 2017, as well as another $1.1 billion in profit in Q1 2018 alone.

However, as the price of Bitcoin has fallen from $20,000 last December to a low of $5,800 in August, some potential investors in Bitmain have gotten cold feet.

As of 4:45 pm Eastern on Aug. 29, Bitcoin was trading at $7,035, according to CoinMarketCap.com.

Although it was originally reported that companies like Tencent Holdings, Ltd. and Softbank Group participated in Bitmain’s $1B pre-IPO fundraising round in July, both companies have since walked back on those claims.