Chinese language mining chip designer Nano Labs has utilized for an preliminary public providing (IPO) in america to lift $50 million on Nasdaq amid sluggish market circumstances.
According to data obtained by the Renaissance Capital IPO monitoring software, the Huangzhou-based crypto mining chip maker has filed with regulator, the U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC), for its upcoming public providing on Nasdaq, the world’s second-biggest inventory trade.
The appliance for American depository shares is happening amid a slew of regulatory difficulties in China and america, inflicting a scarcity of Chinese language issuers’ abroad fundraising. Solely two IPOs passed off in 2022 in New York, elevating $49.5 million, in comparison with 28 IPOs that raised $5.8 billion final 12 months.
Nano Labs, nevertheless, is urgent forward with its Nasdaq providing despite the fact that it has but to supply a viable product. The agency plans to rework right into a metaverse enterprise, offering computing energy for gaming and leisure.
A metaverse is a brand new on-line atmosphere being developed on the blockchain. Customers could create avatars and personal digital property in these digital realms, typically known as “next-generation web” or Web3 purposes.
The 2 essential shareholders of Nano Labs are co-founders Kong and Solar Qifeng, with 32.8% and 22.3% stakes, respectively. Kong was beforehand the co-chairman and a director at rival Canaan, which is the primary cryptocurrency-mining rig maker to listing within the U.S. in November 2019. In August 2020, he departed Canaan amid a company energy wrestle, in accordance with experiences from China then.
Nano Labs’ merchandise are used to mine cryptocurrencies corresponding to Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Filecoin (FIL). In 2020, the corporate’s earnings have been solely derived from China-based shoppers. To broaden gross sales abroad, it established a subsidiary in Singapore final 12 months.
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After Beijing cracked down on crypto actions in Might 2021, China, which was beforehand the world’s largest cryptocurrency mining location, has witnessed some actions pushed underground. In July final 12 months, the hash charge briefly went to zero, a metric of the community’s computing energy for validating transactions and creating new digital property.
Even when the IPO is a hit, Nano Labs faces the hazard of being delisted. If a U.S. audit regulator fails to look at Chinese language accounts for 3 years, mainland Chinese language companies could also be delisted from American markets by 2023. Nano Labs claimed it might face this drawback because of auditing work performed by its accounting agency’s places of work in China.
