Crypto miner maker Canaan eyes going public in New York: report

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One of Bitmain’s crypto mining rivals, Canaan Creative, has reportedly shelved its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) plan and moved on to greener pastures—New York.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that the Beijing-based crypto mining hardware manufacturer has set its sights on possibly selling shares in New York “as soon as the first half” of 2019. Sources familiar with the matter noted that talks are still “at an early stage, and there’s no certainty they will lead to a transaction.”

Canaan Creative was founded in 2013 and sells computer rigs under the “Avalon” brand. In October, the company unveiled its AvalonMiner A911, an ASIC miner with a maximum hashrate of 18 terahashes per second (TH/s), running at 1440W power consumption, and provides 80W of power per TH/s usage. Canaan is also developing a cloud computing heater and a mobile mining farm called the “Avalon Box.” There are also plans to begin distributing an artificial intelligence (AI) chip called Kendryte.

The Hangzhou-based company, currently the second largest manufacturer of crypto mining equipment, had been preparing for an IPO with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK), and listed Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse AG and CMB International Capital Ltd. as its joint sponsors.

However, Canaan’s listing application had already lapsed in November, and people close to the deal told Reuters that the stock exchange and local regulators raised several questions about Canaan’s business model and prospects. The crypto miner manufacturer reportedly slashed its IPO target to $400 million from the original goal of as much as $2 billion.

Canaan isn’t the only crypto mining firm that has suffered as setback due to the SEHK’s alleged reluctance to give its approval. The company’s rivals, Bitmain and Ebang, have their work cut out for them in proving to the stock exchange that they will still exist “in a year or two,” due to market volatility, an insider told CoinDesk. Bitmain, in particular, has a lot of explaining to do.