Crypto miner Canaan revenues top $100M as IPO looms

Crypto mining giant Canaan Creative has posted revenues of almost $100 million this year so far, ahead of its looming initial public offering (IPO) in the United States.

According to filings submitted as part of its IPO registration, the Chinese mining group has earned profits in the order of 94 million yuan in Q3, equivalent to around $13 million. However, the firm remains in the red for 2019 after weak trading earlier in the year, with $31 million still to be offset to return the company to profitability.

Pending the approval of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Canaan is gearing up for its IPO later this month, in what will be a first for a company of its kind in the United States.

Previous attempts to IPO in Hong Kong and mainland China have fallen short of the mark, with regulators refusing to grant permission due to compliance concerns.

Similarly, IPO efforts from rivals Bitmain have also failed. Reportedly sponsored by Deutsche Bank, their efforts to IPO in China were bogged down in compliance issues, with regulators ultimately refusing to grant the necessary approval for a listing.

Sources close to the U.S. regulator have been quoted as saying the SEC remains concerned about “professional and technical issues” around this type of listing, with firms expected to undergo an application process lasting several months before a listing can be approved.

According to the source, this is as a result of regulatory diligence, rather than a biased position against blockchain listings.

The SEC has no biased position on the blockchain business, but it is more concerned about professional and technical issues, so the SEC’s inquiries will be more professional and more focused.

The robust revenues at Canaan come against the backdrop of increasingly challenging conditions for crypto miners, with mining difficulty increases and mining reward decreases on the horizon.

However, despite slight fluctuations in hash rate, the overall computing power dedicated to the sector remains on an upward trend, reflecting the continued optimism of the crypto mining sector towards the long-term future of cryptocurrency prices.

It remains to be seen whether Canaan can convince the SEC to greenlight its proposals for a record-breaking IPO later this month.