After its year(s)-long endeavor to be the world’s first publicly listed bitcoin miner, Australian bitcoin mining firm Bitcoin Group Ltd., has been forced to withdraw its IPO.
The move comes after the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) sought the miner to make a fresh offer. The exchange wasn’t convinced the company had enough liquidity to make it through its first year on the market.
The cryptocurrency miner confirmed that it would be refunding the AUD $5.9 million it raised from its IPO offering, back toward investors. The company pointed the finger at the ASX for not considering the expected price increase of bitcoin following the upcoming block halving in July 2016.
According to the miner, the ASX demanded a capital report from an independent accounting firm, even though the report wasn’t mandatorily necessary for a listing.
In an update to its investors, the company stated: The key reason for the withdrawal of the offer is due to the requirement of the ASX, that Bitcoin Group procure a working capital report from an independent auditing firm, a report not specifically required for a listing on the ASX. The miner proceeded to provide the capital report from an independent accountant to reveal that the price increase of the cryptocurrency wasn’t considered in the report. [T]he independent accountant was required to factor in the reduction of newly minted bitcoins released on occurrence of block halving in July 2016, without regard to the expected increase in bitcoin price. Crucially, the investor update revealed that the working capital report confirmed that the miner had sufficient working capital to meet its objectives over the 12-month period, even if the bitcoin price swell wasn’t considered. Notably, the working capital report which proved to be the catalyst for the miner to withdraw its IPO, identified that it had no regard to […]
