Nano Labs, a Chinese mining chip designer, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq to raise $50 million amid sluggish market circumstances.
The Huangzhou-based crypto mining chip producer has registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its impending public offering on Nasdaq, the world’s second-largest stock exchange, according to information received by the Renaissance Capital IPO tracking program.
The application for American depository shares comes amid a plethora of regulatory issues in both China and the United States, resulting in a lack of offshore funding for Chinese issuers. Only two initial public offerings (IPOs) took held in New York in 2022, raising $49.5 million, compared to 28 IPOs raising $5.8 billion last year.
Nano Labs, on the other hand, is moving forward with its Nasdaq listing despite the fact that it has yet to deliver a commercial product. The company wants to become a metaverse company that provides processing power for games and entertainment.
A metaverse is a new online ecosystem based on blockchain technology. In these virtual domains, referred to as “next-generation internet” or Web3 applications, users can create avatars and possess digital property.
Kong and Sun Qifeng, the co-founders of Nano Labs, own 32.8 percent and 22.3 percent of the company, respectively. Kong was formerly the co-chairman and a director of rival Canaan, which in November 2019 became the first cryptocurrency-mining rig manufacturer to list in the United States. According to reports from China at the time, he left Canaan in August 2020 during a corporate power struggle.
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Filecoin are mined using Nano Labs’ equipment (FIL). The company’s earnings in 2020 will be entirely sourced from Chinese clients. Last year, it opened a subsidiary in Singapore to enhance its international sales.
