Argo Blockchain, a crypto mining company, is likely to become the first blockchain firm to be listed on the LSE (London Stock Exchange). LSE, one of the world’s oldest stock exchanges, has supported this claim by approving Argo’s listing.
Argo Blockchain enters LSE’s list
Argo Blockchain released a statement this Monday putting forward their intention to raise around $26.8 million (£20 million) via IPO (Initial Product Offering). The IPO is scheduled to come after the company has been listed on LSE, and it is expected that Argo’s value will go to $53.3 million, or £40 million.
Argo Blockchain received a significant investment from private investors earlier this year, valued at around £1.9 million, or $2.5 million.
The UK’s Listing Authority allowed the company to go public about this two weeks ago. Jonathan Bixby, the company’s executive and co-founder, stated that the company chose London’s exchange because of the city’s reputation when it comes to financial technology. By being listed on the LSE, Argo will gain credibility, profile, and access to one of the biggest global hubs for financial tech, which will help with the company’s growth.
The company’s computing power will be charged at around $25 per month, and it will allow the company’s subscribers to remotely mine four different altcoins, to include Bitcoin Gold, Ethereum Classic, Zcash, and Ethereum.
This is seen as yet another victory for cryptocurrencies, which have just made another step towards entering the official financial sector.
Argo Blockchain: origins and motivation
Argo Blockchain is a cloud-based crypto mining firm founded in 2017. Its services are based on subscriptions and it was founded to allow individuals to mine cryptos with more ease. This was necessary, especially since the difficulty levels of mining have gone up ever since various collectives dedicated to mining cryptos have appeared. Add to that the appearance of ASICs, and the effort and computing power that was necessary for successful mining, it is no wonder that individuals found that is near impossible to mine cryptos on their own.
This is why this startup was seen as necessary, and only through its services are individual miners capable of entering the mining industry. It would have been impossible to do so with limited resources and the rising costs of the mining equipment and electricity. According to Bixby, over 90% of mining is done on an industrial scale by elites that can afford it. To counter this, Argo wishes to become a kind of Amazon Web Services of cryptocurrencies.
The firm operates from Quebec, Canada, one of the best places in the world to start such a company due to the low costs of Quebec’s hydroelectric power. Not only that, but the cold climate of the area reduces cooling costs significantly making it a popular destination for crypto mining startups.
