Crypto miner maker Ebang to file for US IPO

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Chinese mining equipment manufacturer Ebang is set to file for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States. The company has previously applied for an IPO in Hong Kong but it didn’t materialize. And now, just like its two main market rivals, it’s turning to the U.S.

Ebang intends on pursuing a listing on NASDAQ, a report by Chinese cryptocurrency news outlet 8BTC revealed. The report cited Zhang Li, a partner at blockchain venture capital firm, LinkVC. Li didn’t disclose how much the company intends to raise from its IPO, nor the timeline for the same.

The company declined to comment on the report.

Ebang is the world’s third-largest manufacturer of application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) chips, trailing behind Bitmain and Canaan Creative. 8BTC estimates Ebang’s market share to be just above 9%.

The company’s IPO journey started in 2018 when it filed for an IPO with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. At the time, the company claimed to have experienced 30-fold growth in revenue in just three years, having generated $142 million in 2017.

Things didn’t pan out as well for the company in 2018. The year witnessed a crypto bloodbath, with most cryptos losing over 75% of their value. Consequently, miners started running into losses and the demand for ASIC chips plummeted. In December, Ebang refiled its IPO prospectus with HKEX, revealing that the second part of the year had been brutal and had resulted in reduced revenues.

Ebang now joins Canaan and Bitmain in filing for their IPOs in the U.S. Canaan held its IPO in November, raising $90 million from the sale of 10 million shares. This was way below its earlier target of $400 million. 

Bitmain has also filed for a U.S. IPO, doing so in October. Bitmain was expected to make it to the IPO first. However, this year, it has been rocked by several issues, key among them leadership wrangles.