According to reports from an anonymous person with knowledge of the matter, the Bitmain IPO listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is in danger of not getting approved. Applications usually lapse after six months if they don’t reach the listing hearing stage.
Of the three crypto mining manufactures; Canaan Creative, Ebang and Bitmain, so far Canaan has seen its application lapse having applied with the HKEX back in May.
Ebang application will lapse at the end of this month having applied in June, and Bitmain has only three months left to be approved having applied back in September.
HKEX May Balk At Being The First To Approve A Crypto IPO
After last year’s crypto boom, the three mining giants sought to be the flag bearers in the crypto industry by getting listed on one of the biggest stock exchanges in the world.
But, the bear market that has been 2018 has exposed the sharp ups and downs of the crypto space. According to the source, it’s a situation that has left the HKEX afraid of being the first exchange to list companies that thrive in such an industry.
Choosing to remain anonymous the source said:
“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.” Therefore, “the HKEX doesn’t want to be the first exchange in the world to approve this and have one die on them.”
When reached out by CoinDesk, the HKEX spokesperson said that the exchange does not comment on individual listing applications. Canaan Creative and Ebang did not respond to the inquiries as of press time while Bitmain was silent citing its pre-IPO quiet period.
The listing process on the HKEX usually starts with the interested company filling a draft prospectus with the exchange. It then begins back and forth talks questioning the applicant.
If both the HKEX and Hong Kong’s financial regulator the Securities and Futures Commission approve the application, then it moves to the list hearing stage. Here, the offering size and the share price is decided and then made public.
