Bitmain's landmark plan to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in doubt

Chinese bitcoin mining giant Bitmain is facing growing resistance to its public offering application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) due to market uncertainty, CoinDesk reported.

Bitmain applied to sell shares on the HKEX earlier this year following the crypto boom of 2017, making it the first crypto startup seeking to go public. Fellow mining companies Canaan Creative and Ebang also applied. However, the bear market has reportedly made the exchange "hesitant" to list companies whose survival depend on such a volatile space, with Canaan Creative's application having already expired after the HKEX or Hong Kong’s financial regulator failed to sign off. 

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“The exchange is very hesitant to actually approve these bitcoin mining companies because the industry is so volatile. There’s a real risk that they could just not exist anymore in a year or two,” said Coindesk's anonymous source. Bitmain did not publicly disclose its financial data for the third quarter of this year amid the crypto price-plunge but is required to share any significant drops in revenue to the exchange.

The HKEX spokesperson could not comment on individual applications and Bitmain declined to comment, citing its pre-IPO quiet period.

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Isabel is The Block's London and European reporter. She previously reported for Reuters in Madrid and London, following on from her time as a freelance journalist for the Guardian and the New York Times. She has a Bachelors in War Studies from King’s College London and a Master of Philosophy from the University of Oxford. Conflict of Interest: Edward Woodford, the CEO of SeedCX, is Isabel's brother. She does not report on any issues related to Seed or advise other authors in any regard.