Bitcoin Group launches Australian IPO to welcome opportunities for financial innovation and development

     The world's first Bitcoin IPO has landed in the Australian capital market. Bitcoin Group, founded by a Chinese entrepreneur, plans to be listed on the ASX on November 11, 2015, with the stock trading code BCG.  

     ACB News reported that Bitcoin Group's IPO plans to raise up to A$20 million, with an issue price of A$0.2 per share, a total of 100,000,000 common shares, and a minimum subscription amount of A$2,000, or 10,000 shares. Currently, the initial public offering for Australian retail and institutional investors has been fully launched, and investment briefings will be held in Sydney and Melbourne on October 21 and 24 respectively.

     According to the prospectus, Bitcoin Group was founded on September 4, 2014. Since setting up its Bitcoin mining business in January this year, it reported a gross profit of 431,000 Australian dollars in fiscal year 2015. As the first company in the industry to be listed through an IPO, retail and individual investors will hold 60.7% of the company's shares after Bitcoin Group is listed, and the founding members - three executive directors Samuel Lee, Ryan Xu and Allan Guo will hold 8.6% of the shares, and the rest will be held by existing investors.

     It is reported that the group has reached the minimum fundraising target and is expected to achieve oversubscription. 90% of the funds raised in the first round will be used to expand the company's mining business and advance operating costs. The remaining 10% will be used to pay salaries, sales commissions, listing fees and marketing expenses.

     The value of Bitcoin, known as "electronic gold", is rising steadily, and its acceptance as a payment method is expanding. Currently, Microsoft, Dell, and online retail company Overstock all accept Bitcoin payments, and e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Target accept Bitcoin for gift cards. In mid-last month, the U.S. Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that Bitcoin would be defined as a commodity, and options contracts could be traded like crude oil and soybeans.

     The increasing recognition and extreme scarcity of Bitcoin (there are no more than 10.5 million Bitcoins in the world in the past four years, and the total number will be permanently limited to 21 million) have made the Bitcoin industry a hot spot for venture capital and private equity investment. According to CoinDesk data, the Bitcoin industry received about $344 million in VC investment in the first six months of this year, twice the amount of investment in 2014. The industry's cumulative VC investment in the second quarter increased by 21% from the first quarter to $832 million.

     In Australia, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued a qualitative guidance document on Bitcoin, and the Australian Securities and Futures Commission has successfully approved the Bitcoin Group's initial public offering, which is itself an affirmation of the legality of Bitcoin.

     Currently, there are very few Bitcoin companies listed globally, and the few that are listed are all listed through reverse mergers and acquisitions. Bitcoin Group's IPO not only reflects the positive outlook for the industry, but also demonstrates the company's confidence in its own development and growth potential.

     Sam Lee, president of Bitcoin Group, believes that the IPO can further demonstrate the legitimacy of the Bitcoin industry and gain recognition from potential investors with greater transparency. "The public offering is a milestone in the development of our company and will help implement and promote the recent regulatory measures of the Australian federal government, allowing Australian consumers and businesses to see the benefits and credibility of Bitcoin more clearly."

     “As an industry leader and soon-to-be stock market pioneer, Bitcoin Group will continue to help the market gain greater understanding of this emerging high-growth industry while bringing extremely rare investment opportunities to Australian investors,” Lee said.

     Earlier this month, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull took the lead in using the subscription software to purchase Bitcoin Group shares at the launch ceremony of On-Marke's ASX new share subscription program, thereby expressing his determination to promote the development of the digital currency industry and promote financial innovation.

     The Bitcoin Group's IPO is aimed at the Bitcoin mining business. The Bitcoin network currently produces 25 Bitcoins every ten minutes (plus transaction fees), and the unit price of each Bitcoin is around 300 Australian dollars (about 1,480 RMB). It is expected that after financing, the annual output of Bitcoin will be 80,000 to 115,000 Bitcoins in 2016. The group currently has seven mining farms in three countries, including China, Australia, and Iceland, with a total computing power of about 6.2PETA, accounting for more than 1.5% of the entire Bitcoin network.