Will Bitmain’s Antminer T19 Renew Company’s Chances For an IPO?

Bitmain officially launched sales for its Antminer T19, a new Bitcoin mining ASIC designed to produce a hash rate of 84 TH/s ± 3% and power efficiency of 37.5 J/TH ± 5%. The Antminer T19 has technology that bears similarity to the custom-built chips found in the higher end Antminer S19 and S19 Pro, albeit at a lower price point.

Bitmain’s Previous Product Lines

Compared with the previous Antminer T17, which consumers were able to receive partial price adjustment refunds on for those shipped between mid-February to the end of April, the T19 performs more efficiently, possibly allowing miners to achieve profitability faster. The T19 does this by utilizing a new power supply technology and upgraded firmware, which offers faster mining speeds.

The T19 launch follows the debut of the Antminer S19. The latter has a reported hashrate of 95 terahashes per second (TH/s), with the Pro version capable of 110 TH/s and energy efficiency of 29.5 joules per terahash.

Despite the base model’s higher price point with the pro version costing even more, the machines were sold out within a matter of days. Miners who purchase the T19, on the other hand, can expect their Antminers to start shipping from June 21st, and purchasers are limited to buying two units maximum.

Internal Struggles Within Bitmain

Bitmain has seen many changes in the past few years. Micree Zhan, who passed the CEO title back to co-founder Jihan Wu last December, received a partial legal victory in Beijing when asserting his right to maintain legal ties to Bitmain Beijing.

Bitmain subsequently issued a statement that even if Micree Zhan were to become a legal representative for Bitmain Beijing, the legal designation would not significantly impact the normal operation of the company inside and outside of China.

The firm also had planned to do an IPO in the second half of 2019 and had previously set its fundraising target at $3 billion, a figure that was then subsequently adjusted to substantially lower. However, even after reducing the target, Bitmain’s IPO date has yet to be announced.

It remains to be seen whether the Antminer T19 will sell out as quickly as the S19 and help bolster Bitmain’s financials and put it back on track for a public offering.