One of China's most influential bitcoin mining hardware makers is now going public after months of speculation. It's the goal: to raise $400 million through NASDAQ initial public offering.
An Hangzhou-based company, Canaan Creative defines itself in its prospectus as the world's second-largest bitcoin mining device developer and the manufacturer said it planned to use the cash to fund research into artificial intelligence and blockchain technology and pay off debts.
It did not say why it agreed at this time to try again for another US initial public offering. Three years ago, the company tried to list itself in China by acquiring a Shandong-based electrical equipment maker through a reverse merger and then re-filed for a Hong Kong float last year, but both plans fell through as authorities had concerns about its business model and prospects.
The listing on NASDAQ comes moments after Chinese President Xi Jinping made comments last week encouraging the advancement of blockchain technology, which sent stocks of bitcoin and electronic currency-connected entities, and the price of bitcoin, skyrocketing.
Nevertheless, the future of bitcoin or bitcoin mining in China remains unclear as Beijing shut down regional exchanges on cryptocurrencies in 2017 and indicated in April that it wants to eliminate the country's bitcoin mining.
Chinese state media also said that progress in blockchain should not be seen as a boost to trading in virtual currency.
Canaan makes integrated circuits specific to the application, hardware that is often used for applications involving bitcoin mining or artificial intelligence.
According to its F-1 statement, the company claims to be the world's second-largest designer and manufacturer of its chip variety.
Founded in 2013, Canaan has shipped 26,000 artificial intelligence chips and modules since it was released and has 21.9 percent of the global market share of bitcoin mining machines in the first half of this year.
Canaan, which will list its shares under the symbol "CAN," designs and sells integrated high-performance circuits behind the Bitcoin mining machine series of Avalon. Credit Suisse, Citigroup, China Renaissance, and CMB International are banks working on Canaan's NASDAQ IPO.
Canaan generated $394 million in revenue during the 2018 fiscal year, with a net income of $8.3 million, according to the company's SEC filing.
The company has lost $45.8 million in net revenue of $42.1 million for the six months ending June 30, 2019, compared to $25 million in net revenue of $275 million for the first half of 2018, so far this year.
