Bitfarms – an Israeli crypto mining firm – has filed a preliminary prospectus with the Ontario Securities Commission in a bit to launch an IPO in Canada. Interestingly, Bitfarms – previously known as Blockchain Mining – has been listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange for a little while now. In fact, its stock price has climbed by more than 6,500% since listing on the stock exchange, but not much foreign money trades on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and Bitfarms wants to draw these investors. By listing in Canada, Bitfarms will be opening its doors to a new wave of investors and will be listed on one of the biggest stock exchanges in the world.
IPOs King in the Mining World
Many people are confused as to why Bitfarms is using an IPO rather than an ICO, but the answer for that is very simple. There is still an investor class that can’t participate in ICOs and in order to give these investors access to crypto markets indirectly, crypto mining firms have been opting for IPOs. These crypto mining IPOs are quickly allocated and often oversubscribed – a great move for a firm wanting to raise as much money as possible.
Following in the Footsteps of Legends
Bitfarms isn’t the first crypto mining firm to opt for an IPO. Bitmain – the largest manufacturer of mining hardware – has also submitted a preliminary prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in preparation for an IPO. On top of this, Argo Mining has also completed an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, being the first crypto mining firm listed on it. There is a growing trend for firms to do an IPO rather than ICO and there are a number of factors involved.
ICOs Are Starting to Die Out
IPOs are also in fashion due to the fact ICOs are largely remaining unfilled. This is due to the fact there are so many ICO scams out there – creating fear amongst investors – and the fact the wider crypto markets aren’t performing well. People have less crypto to splash out on frivolous investments into young firms, and they don’t want to hold more random tokens. While the Bahamas is trying to regulate ICOs to stamp out fraudulent ones, there are still an awful lot of them roaming free.
Canada is the holy land when it comes to crypto mining, as more mining firms are setting up shop in the country with every passing week. This IPO could be the first step towards Bitfarms opening a farm on the ground in crypto mining friendly Canada.
