Bitmain, the largest global producer of cryptocurrency mining equipment, reportedly has posted a net profit of $1.1 billion for the first quarter of 2018.
According to Forbes magazine, which quotes an e-mail from a source close to the company, the conservative estimates for the net profit of the entire year amount to anywhere between $2 and $3 billion.
As per the same e-mail, last year’s audit of Bitmain, performed by KPMG showed that the company produced $1.2 billion in net profit and an approximately 50% net margin.
Bitmain is also raising more funding, in addition to the $400 million round reported in June and is currently valued at around $14 billion, implying a 10 to 11x earnings multiple, according to the email. Previously Bitmain was valued at around $12 billion.
The e-mail also says that Bitmain will file an expected Initial Public Offering (IPO) “very soon”.
Bitmain, which also has a crypto mining pool and is working on projects and products involving artificial intelligence and big data, has been in the media spotlight quite a lot in the past few months.
The first hints of the planned IPO were made by Bitmain’s CEO Jihan Wu in an interview with Bloomberg. He told the news outlet that it would happen soon and would give its early investors the chance to cash out. Following Wu’s comments, Bitmain completed the aforementioned $400 million funding round and was valued at $12 billion. According to some reports in Chinese media, however, it was followed by another funding round, in which Bitmain raised $1 billion.
Meanwhile, Bitmain released a new model of its popular mining rig Antminer, cementing its mining monopoly. Responding to suspicions that it is also controlling nearly half of the Bitcoin hashrate through its mining pool AntPool and its partners, Bitmain released unaudited stats, claiming that it controls just around 3-4% of the mining capacity for the most popular cryptocurrency.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
