Bitcoin Global News (BGN)
August 13, 2018 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- It looks like we
are going to see a Crypto mining firm go public and it’s not just
any Crypto mining firm. Apparently Bitmain has already reached an
initial estimated valuation of $18 billion before its
scheduled September Initial Public
Offering.
This outpaces Coinbase’s recent valuation of $8
billion, though in their case, this was self reported and not
done for an upcoming IPO.
If Bitmain succeeds in going public
to the tune of $18 billion, then their IPO will be better than
Facebook’s was, which was already record breaking. Reportedly, the
only reason they won’t be the best IPO ever is
because Tencent Music, a wing of the
same company behind WeChat, will go public during the same
period.
If all of this is looked at from
Bitmain’s standpoint, one can still say that everything is coming
up roses, so to speak. If they successfully run this IPO, then they
will be leading the Blockchain space in their niche, while also
being one of the most fiscally powerful companies on the
traditional stock market.
The key question is: do we, as
Blockchain professionals and prospective or long-time investors,
want this to happen?
Related to this, what’s the
downside for everyone else in the space if this does go
through?
As of now, the chief problem with
Bitmain relates to centralization. At its core, the Blockchain
industry is supposed to be as decentralized and therefore, as fair
as possible given the technology that it springs
from.
In other words, Bitmain has become
the undisputed mining leader, leaving almost every other mining
company far behind in terms of their control of the niche. For
example, in June, Crypto Coins News reported that Bitmain alone
controlled about 51% of Bitcoin’s hash rate. If
the significance of this is not quite clear, this effectively means
that the chance of winning the block reward.
Historically, any changes on the
Bitcoin network had to be approved by a majority of its miners.
Therefore, this also means that Bitmain might be said to have the
majority stake in the future of the Bitcoin network.
Because all of this is true, the
previously possibility of a downside to Bitmain’s IPO looms its
head once again.
Do we want them to have even more
control over the future of the entire industry, of any
kind?
By: BGN Editorial Staff
News:
Bitmain IPO
Cryptocurrency
Mining
Blockchain