Bitcoin mining firm Genesis Digital Assets is working with advisors on a potential initial public offering (IPO) in the US, according to a Tuesday report from Bloomberg.
People familiar with the matter told the publication that Genesis Digital Assets plans to raise a pre-IPO funding round within the next few weeks. The company has raised over $550 million from investors since 2021, and was valued at over $5.5 billion in its latest funding round.
Among the firm’s most prominent investors was the venture capital arm of FTX’s sister firm Alameda Research, which infused $1 billion into the Bitcoin mining firm. A report from the Wall Street Journal last January found that only half these funds went towards Genesis Digital Assets’ operations, while over $500 million bought existing shares from two Genesis Digital co-founders.
The funds Alameda used to invest in Genesis Digital Assets may have come from FTX’s customer deposits, according to testimony from Peter Easton, a University of Notre Dame accounting professor.
Easton, who was hired by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to trace FTX and Alameda Research’s funds testified that FTX customers funded the majority of a $550 million investment into Genesis Digital Assets, during the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, according to a report from CoinDesk in October 2023.
Genesis Digital Assets is one of the largest Bitcoin mining firms operational today, with 20 data centers across North America, Europe, South America and Central Asia. The firm has a total power capacity of 500 megawatts and 150,000 miners online, according to its website.
If the firm does end up listing shares on a US stock exchange, it would join other major Bitcoin mining firms such as Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms, which have had successful runs in the market, particularly during periods when the price of Bitcoin tracks higher.
