Under pressure from the halving, Bitcoin investment company Swan Bitcoin cancels IPO plans and shuts down mining operations

The CEO of Bitcoin investment company Swan Bitcoin, Cory Klippsten, revealed in a tweet this morning that the company will be shutting down its custody and mining operations, and temporarily postponing its initial public offering (IPO) plans, with the possibility of further layoffs.

Swan Bitcoin Cancels IPO Plans

Cory Klippsten stated that due to poor performance of the company's custody and mining division in recent months, it is unlikely to continue operating the business in the short term, leading to the cancellation of the previously planned IPO.

Swan is currently slowing down the expansion of our core financial services and will be exiting some businesses. Unfortunately, this will affect employees in multiple departments.

He revealed that Swan Bitcoin will begin layoffs this week, but the specific number of employees to be laid off is still unknown.

What is Swan Bitcoin?

As a financial company that provides Bitcoin asset management, financial advisory, and educational services, Swan Bitcoin also operates a Bitcoin trading business and established its custody and mining division in 2023, gradually expanding mining operations overseas.

In January of this year, the company announced its intention to IPO in the United States, claiming rapid growth in its business, employee size, and annual revenue in an announcement:

We plan to raise Series C funding in the coming months and aim to go public within the next year.

Earlier this month, European mining giant Northern Data and Genesis Digital Assets, which received funding from Alameda Research, also indicated their intention to IPO in the United States next year or in the coming months; however, the former faced bankruptcy and tax evasion scandals a few days after the news, causing a sharp drop in the company's stock price.

Just announced intention to IPO! Mining giant Northern Data faces bankruptcy and tax evasion scandals revealed by former executives

Bitcoin Halving, Mining Companies Struggling

It is evident that the suspension of mining operations is due to the decrease in mining revenue caused by the Bitcoin halving event, putting immense pressure on many mining companies, with over half of the large mining companies currently operating at a loss.

Bottoming out from Bitcoin mining data: Most mining machines are no longer cost-effective, and half of mining enterprises are losing money

Due to the advanced computing infrastructure of mining companies, many are seen by the public as potential hosts for AI GPU and data centers.

As a result, due to their advanced computing infrastructure, many companies have shifted towards high-performance computing (HPC) and have become hosts and data centers for artificial intelligence companies and cloud service providers, including Core Scientific and Iris Energy.

JPMorgan: Mining companies taking on high-performance computing projects pique investor interest