Australian Bitcoin mining firm Bitcoin Group Ltd.’s initial public offering (IPO) hasn’t been the success the company had hoped with a bookbuild for the float managing to raise only 30 percent of the funds they were seeking.

Bitcoin Group were looking to raise AU$20 million ($14 million) in an IPO offering of 100 million new shares at AU$0.20 (14 cents) a share however only managed to raise $AU5.9 million ($4.2 million).

The company is naturally spinning the result, with Chief Executive Officer Sam Lee describing it as “solid” and telling CNBC that “it is sufficient for the company to execute its current strategy of expanding our footprint through acquiring new mining equipment.”

Troubled path

Founded in 2014, Bitcoin Group claims to have a vision of making “trust more accessible via Bitcoin’s underlying Blockchain technology,” and to their credit, and unlike many in the Bitcoin mining space, they claim to be cash flow positive and profitable as well.

That said it has been a troubled path to an IPO for the company who first floated the idea of going public in 2014.

In a combination of perhaps poor management, and the fact that listing a Bitcoin mining concern on the Australian Stock Exchange is within itself something completely new, the company received stop orders on three initial attempts to list from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), in particular relating to claims made in their prospectus.

“As the world’s first IPO in our industry, we are no doubt setting a precedent…ASIC’s role to protect Australian investors means they need to understand our unique business model,” Lee told local media in September. “We appreciate the patience ASIC have taken to understand what we do, and thank their co-operation in helping ensure our prospectus accurately reflects the current and future opportunity of Bitcoin Group.”

While on one hand the IPO process could be interpreted as an abysmal failure given how little was raised versus how much the company was trying to raise, credit where due though as it was never going to be an easy undertaking to begin with, particularly given Australia’s conservative investment community, dominated by superannuation (retirement) funds.

That picture may change in coming years however as Australian companies, particularly its financial institutions, pay more attention to Bitcoin and the related Blockchain sector, and is perhaps best represented the fact that the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) itself is currently exploring using the Blockchain to settle trades on its market.

No date has yet been given as to when Bitcoin Group will list on the ASX.

Image credit: Bitcoin Group.