Buoyant Bitmain Technologies plans IPO

Bitmain Technologies is prepping an initial public offering which would give early investors, including Sequoia Capital and IDG Capital, an opportunity to cash out.

Fortune has obtained an email from a source close to the China headquartered cryptocurrency mining company, showing that it is raising further cash in addition to a $400 million round reported in early June. This would value Bitmain at approximately $14 billion.

“The email cites a KPMG audit of the business and reports that Bitmain produced $1.2 billion in net profit and an approximately 50% net margin in 2017,” notes a Fortune article. “Bitmain reportedly brought in $1.1 billion in net profit just in the first quarter of 2018. According to the email, a conservative estimate of what the company could earn in net profit for the full year hovers at approximately $2 to $3 billion.”

Backing Block.one

Earlier this month, Coin Rivet reported that Bitmain Co-founder and Co-CEO Jihan Wu had joined venture capitalist and entrepreneur Peter Thiel in investing in Block.one, publisher of the Eosio blockchain protocol.

The round also included Louis Bacon, founder of Moore Capital Management and fellow hedge fund big hitter Alan Howard. The investment came after Block.one wrapped the world’s biggest sale of cryptocurrency tokens for $4 billion in May. It also followed on from a round led by Christian Angermayer, Lansdowne Investment Company and Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz.

“The EOSIO protocol is a great example of blockchain innovation. Its performance and scalability can meet the needs of demanding consumer applications and will pave the way for mainstream blockchain adoption,” said Wu.