Argo Blockchain PLC plans £40mln London listing with aim of democratising crypto

Argo will be the first cryptocurrency or blockchain stock to list on the London Stock Exchange when it eventually floats

A company that wants to “democratise” the process of crypto mining has unveiled plans to join the London market, valued at £40mln.

PLC is raising £20mln that will fund investment in infrastructure and marketing of its service, which allows the general public to create virtual currencies such as Bitcoin Gold and Ethereum.

READ: Argo Blockchain founders inspired by success of Netflix and Amazon Web Services

The process involves using complex maths to validate new transactions. This requires significant and expensive processing power that is costly to run.

By creating a computing hub at scale in Quebec, Canada, run from cheap, sustainable power, it hopes to throw the process open to individual miners.

Its subscription service began on June 11, costing US$25 a month, allowing users to mine Bitcoin Gold, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic and Zcash.

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Argo will be hoping to emulate the success of Mining, the Icelandic company which now has 2mln users and charges between US$179 and almost US$4,000 for its service.

That it has a waiting list of at least six months, points to pent up demand for mining services and suggests Argo’s plans to attract 30,000 subscribers in year-one, rising to 140,000 in year-two, are achievable.

US$63bn market

The company is tapping into a mining market that is estimated to be worth US$63bn.

The co-founders have a big vision and said they are inspired by the success of and Amazon Web Services.

While the former has popularised monthly subscription-based content for viewers worldwide, the latter has levelled the playing field for anyone needing access to data processing at scale.

Called mining as a service, or MaaS, Argo provides the tools required for mining for a reasonable monthly subscription.

“We are creating an on-ramp for crypto mining,” said Jonathan Bixby, executive chairman and co-founder of the new company.

“Mining is controlled by an elite. We don’t think that is reasonable and we think it is an impediment to scaling crypto.

“Our business is 100% about democratising the process. You can live anywhere in the world and mine crypto just as cheap as the elite are.”

To find out more, visit www.argomining.co.