Bitmain, a crypto mining hardware unicorn that filed for an IPO last September on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, submitted an updated review of its financials… and, uh, it wasn’t very reassuring.
The update revealed that Bitmain lost almost $500m in Q3 of 2018, a remarkably different figure than the first half of the year, when the company posted a profit of $1B.
Started with a bang, now we’re here
Early on, Bitmain shot out of the crypto cannon, with a front row seat at the great crypto peak of 2017: The company earned a reported $4B in profits that year, carving out an 85% market share in crypto mining.
Even when the crypto shoe dropped in 2018, the company managed to increase revenue 10x and profit 9x from the previous year.
But Father Time caught up right after the company’s ill-fated filing. According to the update, the value of the company’s holdings (bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and dash) collectively dropped $100m over Q3, and has declined more than 50% since.
No mo’ IPO?
In the last year, Bitmain’s been hit with both layoffs and office closures, and this new update certainly doesn’t bode well for the company’s IPO.
The reality is that the Bitcoin bear market has taken a serious toll on all aspects of cryptocurrency, including the mining sector.
In September, we compared Bitmain to that of a shovel maker during a new-age gold rush — unfortunately, shovels are only as valuable as the treasure they’re digging for.