Bitcoin Miner Producer Ebang Blames Coronavirus for 50% Slump in Revenue
Ebang has said the knock-on effects of the coronavirus outbreak caused revenue to fall by half in the first six months of 2020.
Total net revenue for the Nasdaq-listed mining equipment manufacturer slumped to $11 million in H1 2020, down 50.6% from $22.35 million made in the same period the year before, per an SEC filing last week.
In a statement, Ebang chairman and CEO Dong Hu linked the drop in revenue to the pandemic, which had led chip suppliers to reduce capacity and caused a chronic shortage of raw materials that severely disrupted Ebang’s business.
By way of a silver lining, though, while net revenue was far below last year, Ebang saved more than $10 million in operating expenses and losses in H1 2020.
As per the unaudited financial results, comprehensive net loss fell from nearly $17.6 million in the first half of 2019 to just under $7.3 million in H1 2020
Hu said the disruption caused by the pandemic meant the Chinese-based company had optimized its revenue structure and started to explore new revenue streams.
Earlier this year, Ebang announced plans to launch its own offshore crypto exchange, something CFO Chen Lei said could double total revenue by 2022.
Ebang took $300 million in revenue in 2018, the tail-end of the initial coin offering (ICO) boom.
Despite the H1 drop in revenue, the market seems to have responded well to Ebang’s efforts to diversify: shares were up 2.5% to $9.85 at time of writing, close to double the $5 value at its Nasdaq debut in late June.
See also: Pandemic Will Speed Bitcoin Adoption, Says DBS Bank Economist
