China-based Bitmain Technologies is arguably one of the most powerful and controversial firms in the crypto space and has created a reputation for secrecy, but all that has just changed.
Founded by billionaires Jihan Wu and Micree Zhan, Bitmain had been very secretive regarding its books, but now that it has decided to go public on the Hong Kong stock exchange, it has revealed its numbers.
To start with, Bitmain has surfed the crypto wave for five years, and after its most recent funding round, has reported a $12 billion valuation.
A Big Four audit
KPMG carried out the financial inspection of Bitmain’s statements and reported the firm made $742.7 million in profit during the first six months of 2018. That is a 900% increase in earnings from 2017. Revenue increased tenfold in the same period to $2.8 billion, and its adjusted return on equity was 58.8%.
“Clearly by the numbers, they’re quite profitable,” says Brian Kelly, Founder and CEO of BKCM, an investment firm focused on digital currencies. He explains profitability was a concern for crypto market participants in light of the steep decline in the price of Bitcoin and altcoins. If Bitmain was not in the green, it could have put pressure on an already embattled space.
The venture has also disclosed investments in Bitcoin Cash, information that drove up the cryptocurrency’s price by about 20% to $516 currently, CoinMarketCap.com data shows. “They won’t have to sell any of their crypto holdings, that’s really positive for cryptocurrencies,” Kelly adds.
More numbers
Other numbers revealed by the audit show that Bitmain held $886.9 million of cryptocurrency assets at the end of June or about 28% of total assets. It also reported an impairment loss of $102.7 million on crypto assets and an impairment provision on inventory of $252.7 million. In the meantime, inventories increased to $887 million from $558 million at the end of last year.
Sales of Bitmain mining hardware made up 94.3% of revenue; mining pools 1.5%; mining farms 0.8%; proprietary mining 3.3%; others 0.1%, the audit further reveals.
So, the company’s long-awaited Initial Public Offering (IPO) has been filed, and it is expecting to raise billions of dollars, but for now, it is unclear how much the company will be valued at. Bitmain has yet to reveal how many shares it will offer and the timetable for the IPO.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.