Another Chinese mining chip maker plans to hold an IPO

By:
on  Jun 2, 2020
Listen
2 min read
  • One of China's largest computing chip producers, SMIC, recently revealed plans to hold a $2.8b IPO.
  • The move comes soon after the firm's partnership with Canaan, and the two plan to create a new miner.
  • The miner would target undisclosed cryptocurrency with a small market cap, rather than Bitcoin.

Follow Invezz on Telegram, Twitter, and Google News for instant updates >

One of China’s largest computing chip producers — SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation) recently revealed plans to hold an Initial Public Offering (IPO). From what is known, the company’s goal is to raise $2.8 billion on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Sci-Tech Board.

Are you looking for signals & alerts from pro-traders? Sign-up to Invezz Signals™ for FREE. Takes 2 mins.

Canaan partnership and a new miner in the works

Copy link to section

The SSE already accepted the chip manufacturer’s application, as can be seen in a document filed with the HKEX (Hong Kong Stock Exchange) this Monday. The firm stated that a portion of the proceeds will serve for the development of new, 14nm chips. The chips would be specifically designed for mining crypto.

The move itself comes only two months after the chip produced partnered up with a well-known mining gear maker, Canaan Creative. Canaan has been performing rather poorly recently, so a new partnership with one of the largest computing chip creators might be just what it needs to change things for itself.

The two firms plan to create a completely new mining machine, although they did not reveal which coin their miner will be targeting. All that is known is that its market cap is relatively small. Meanwhile, the companies decided against going after Bitcoin, as the current technical limitations are too much.

A bit about SMIC

Copy link to section

Of course, while it is one of the largest chip-makers out there, SMIC is still not a match for Bitmain’s chip supplier, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company). Neither it is for Samsung, which is partnered with MicroBT and Whatsminer.

SMIC itself has been around for 20 years now, after being founded in 2000. However, it is a well-performing company, and possibly one of China’s largest hopes for improving its chip development tech. That way, the country would be able to become less dependent on the US, especially since the tensions between the two are still present.

So far, SMIC received $2.2 billion in investments in May alone, coming from the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund II, as well as from Shanghai Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund II. These are the two largest national investment funds, both of which chose to support the firm.

Crypto