Bitcoin Group to list on share market

Australian-based bitcoin miner Bitcoin Group is seeking to raise $20 million and list on the share market.

A second Bitcoin company is set to list on the Australian stock market.

Australian-based Bitcoin Group is seeking to raise $20 million through the issue of 100 million new shares to the public at 20 cents per share.

The bitcoin miner expects its shares to start trading on the Australian Securities Exchange on November 11.

Another bitcoin miner, Digital BTC, has been trading on the local share market since June 2014, though is shifting its focus away from bitcoin-reliant operations following the depreciation in the bitcoin price.

Bitcoin Group chairman Andrew Plympton says the company currently produces about 1.57 per cent of the world's bitcoins, and operates bitcoin mining equipment at six sites in China and Iceland.

About $18 million of the funds raised from its market listing will be invested into bitcoin mining equipment and facilities.

Bitcoin is a digital currency, a medium of exchange that is electronically created and stored - there are no physical notes or coins.

Bitcoins are not issued by a central authority but are generated according to a predefined, publicly known protocol.

Bitcoin mining describes the process of earning new bitcoins, which can then be converted to a major currency.

When miners successfully solve the bitcoin algorithmic equation that verifies transactions, they are rewarded with newly minted bitcoins.

In Bitcoin Group's prospectus, Mr Plympton said investors should be aware that the company is a newly formed entity, and the management team has no prior experience operating as a publicly listed entity.

Also, the company is highly dependent on its mining operations in China, and the bitcoin price is highly volatile.

Bitcoin Group said it is projected to produce about 13.4 per cent of the world's bitcoin mining output, based on a bitcoin price of $400.


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Source: AAP

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