Report Claims Bitmain Already Has $560 Million in Commitments for the Pre-IPO Round, But the Investor is Threatening to Pull Deal

There’s big drama in the cryptocurrency community tonight as it’s being reported that Chinese mining hardware giant Bitmain has already secured $560 million in commitments for its pre-IPO round.

It’s not all good news, however: one of the key investors, Temasek, is threatening to withdraw its commitment “due to [bitcoin CEO] Jihan [Wu] misrepresenting info.”

The source adds that “Jihan is on calls trying to salvage deal” and that the “chances of the deal breaking up is extremely high now.”

Temasek is a massive investment company owned by the Government of Singapore. Founded in 1974, the company has $308 billion of total assets.

The source with the latest Bitmain news is btcking555 on Twitter, who tweeted the news earlier today citing “China sources”.

Breaking: China sources report Bitmain has some $560 mln in commitments for this pre-IPO round. Key investor is @Temasek threatening to withdraw due to Jihan misrepresenting info. Jihan is on calls trying to salvage deal. Chances of the deal breaking up is extremely high now! — BTCKING555 (@btcking555) August 22, 2018

Bitmain is one of the most powerful and profitable companies in the bitcoin community. It’s also one of the most controversial. Bitmain CEO Jihan Wu is a divisive figure, and his reputation took a hit last year when he publicly supported Bitcoin Cash (BCH) over BTC. Earlier this summer, it was revealed that Bitmain also holds a significant amount of BCH – some reports suggest as much as 11% of the total supply (well over 1 million BCH). As the value of BCH has dropped, Bitmain’s holdings have taken a significant hit.

Amidst all of this, Bitmain is reportedly preparing for an initial public offering (IPO). The company is hugely profitable, generating over $1 billion in profit in Q1 2018 alone. Bitmain controls approximately 80% of the bitcoin mining hardware space. They also have significant investments in BTC mining, BCH mining, cloud mining, and other elements of the crypto industry.

The Bitmain IPO would be the biggest IPO the crypto industry has ever seen. That IPO has been greeted with skepticism, however. Over this summer, people have repeatedly suggested that the IPO could be an exit scam. Bitmain could be trying to sell to investors when its value is peaking – and before its value crashes.

“Is the Bitmain IPO the biggest exit scam crypto will ever see?” asked Mark Hartley at CryptoDisrupt on August 13.

In any case, if this latest report is to be believed, Bitmain has already attracted significant investor attention and has amassed over $560 million in pre-IPO round financing commitments. Nevertheless, at least one investor – Temasek – appears to be threatening to withdraw its financing. The terms of the withdrawal also appear to be quite ugly, with Temasek reportedly withdrawing its financing due to misrepresentation by Bitmain CEO and co-founder Jihan Wu.

Temasek is a Singapore-based investment company owned by the Government of Singapore. The company owns and manages a net portfolio of $308 billion. It’s unclear how much their proposed stake in Bitmain is. If they withdraw financing, however, then it could spook other investors away from a Bitmain IPO.

This all comes on the heels of DST Global rejecting involvement, as well as TenCent and Softbank as well. Then Bernstein and Co said the company is losing its technological edge as well. Throw in the mix of the latest BCH civil war breaking out between Jihan Wu (ABC) and Craig Wright's nChain ‘Bitcoin SV‘ and you have quite a show unraveling within the inner workings of cryptocurrencies' biggest personalities and companies.