Liu Lu, founder and CEO of Bitfufu.
Bitfufu
Bitfufu, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency mining platform, is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Friday after completing its long-awaited deal to merge with Arisz Acquisition Corp.
Bitfufu first attempted to go public in January 2022 through a merger with the same special purpose acquisition company formed by US consulting firm MSQ Ventures. The 2022 agreement was evaluated at that time Bitfufu for $1.5 billion, but the deal has been repeatedly delayed due to volatility in the cryptocurrency markets.
However, over the past year, the market has rebounded strongly from the scandals that engulfed the cryptocurrency sector in 2022, when prominent players such as Sam Bankman Fried and Changpeng Zhao were convicted of white-collar crimes and cascading bankruptcies around the world. industry.
Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, recently surpassed $61,000, approaching an all-time high of nearly $69,000. Analysts say the Bitcoin rally is fueled by the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in the US, as well as the upcoming “halving” event that will reduce the supply of new Bitcoins.
Upon completion of the merger on Thursday, Bitfufu received $74 million in private investment in public equity (PIPE) from existing shareholders Bitmain, the Chinese mining rig giant co-founded by cryptocurrency pioneer Wu Jihan, and Antpool, a subsidiary of Bitmain. Bitfufu said it will use the proceeds to expand its cryptocurrency mining offerings.
“Our Nasdaq listing is a key part of bringing much-needed trust and credibility to the industry,” Liu Lu, founder and CEO of Bitfufu, said in a written response. “Taking advantage of global capital markets will provide us with the resources to invest in sales, technology, green operations and supply chain integration which will allow us to provide better mining services.”
Bitfufu, whose name is a combination of the word “bitcoin” and the Chinese meaning of “wealth”, It was founded in 2020 by Lu, a former business director at Bitmain, with early investment from his former employer. Bitfufu offers cloud mining services, which allow customers to mine Bitcoin on its platform without having to purchase expensive mining equipment. The startup also mines Bitcoin itself. Its other services include sales, rental and housing of Bitcoin mining machines.
Bitfufu said its profits for the first half of 2023 amounted to $7.8 million, an increase of 18% from the same period of the previous year. The company's revenue in the first half rose 64% year-over-year to $134 million, with cloud mining services accounting for more than half of its revenue. Bitfufu's largest client, according to its earnings report, was ChainUp, a Singapore-based blockchain technology software services provider backed by Singaporean billionaire Kwee Liong Tek.
Bitfufu's merger with Arisz is one of the few SPAC deals in recent years from the cryptocurrency industry that has managed to cross the finish line. Another successful merger was that of cryptocurrency peer Bitdeer, controlled by Wu, which began trading on the Nasdaq in April last year, though its shares have since fallen by nearly 40%.
Cryptocurrency companies that have had to withdraw from public listings include Bullish, a cryptocurrency exchange backed by billionaire Peter Thiel and Richard Lee, and stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial. Both companies were pursuing $9 billion SPAC mergers that were eventually called off in late 2022.
More from Forbes
