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It has taken only three months and a Bitcoin bull run for fresh rumors of a possible initial public offering (IPO) by Bitmain, the giant Chinese crypto mining chip maker, to reemerge.
On Friday, a Bloomberg report citing sources familiar with the matter disclosed that Bitmain, valued at $15 billion last year, is planning an IPO for the second half of 2019.
This time, though, the company would not seek to get listed on home soil in Hong Kong, but rather on U.S exchanges, according to the sources.
The report mentioned that Bitmain is likely to be conservative regarding the target raise for its planned IPO. When the mining chip company was planning its IPO in Hong Kong, the fundraising target was $3 billion, a figure that is now anywhere between $300 million to $500 million or slightly higher.
The sources also outlined the progress made so far on a possible listing in the U.S, mentioning that Bitmain was “working with advisers” and could submit its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) within the next month.
Bitcoin Effect?
While some may argue that Bitmain may already have had plans for an IPO in the US, there is no denying the fact that rejuvenated crypto markets played a part in the decision.
Bitmain’s primary source of income is selling cryptocurrency mining chips, a market that suffered significantly along with the rest of the industry during the 2018 bear market.
Since the start of 2019, of course, things quickly turned around, with most cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, having more than doubled in price so far.
Bitcoin was trading at around $9,840 with a market cap above $170 billion at the time of writing, marking an increase of 200% since January 1 of this year.
Meanwhile, it’s pertinent to point out that in the same way, Bitcoin’s price action has revived talks of a Bitmain IPO, which could have the same impact on the former if the US exchange listing eventually happens.