Silicon Valley crypto startup Chia Network files confidentially for IPO
By Hannah Miller | Bloomberg
Crypto startup Chia Network Inc. indicated on Friday that it has moved a step closer to a U.S. IPO. The company said it has confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company, which was valued at around $500 million in 2021, said in the announcement that the size and price range of the proposed IPO has not yet been determined. Chia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gene Hoffman, who was named CEO of Chia this year, told Bloomberg in January that the startup had no plans to go public in 2023 because it didn’t think the market would be “open” to them.
Chia joins other digital asset companies angling to go public. Jesse Powell, the co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, said his company was positioning itself for a potential public listing when he announced he was stepping down as CEO. Bitcoin miner Bitdeer Technologies Holding Co. began trading on Nasdaq on Friday, after completing a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.
But crypto-related companies that have gone public have faced a number of challenges. Coinbase Global Inc., which received a notice from the SEC in March declaring the regulator’s intentions to take enforcement action against the crypto exchange, has seen its share price drop by more than 70% since its direct IPO. Core Scientific Inc., Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. and Riot Platforms Inc. — the top three publicly traded Bitcoin miners — had combined losses of more than $1 billion during the second quarter of last year. Some miners have even turned to share sales to raise money.
Chia, based in South San Francisco, has positioned itself as the developer of a greener, less energy-intensive blockchain that relies on hard drives, including recycled ones, for data storage.
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