Why mining rig company Canaan is planning $2 bn IPO in wobbly bitcoin world

Bitcoin prices have fallen 40 percent this year, hurting margins for miners

Bitcoins are worth less than half of what they were in December. Mining them is 60 percent less profitable than it was in 2017. Even retailers of hobbyist mining rigs say they are seeing fewer customers. 

Why, then, is Canaan Inc, a leading cryptocurrency mining rig supplier, looking to raise up to $2 billion, according to two sources with knowledge of the deal, in the world's biggest bitcoin-focused initial public offering to date? 

Canaan is expected to present itself to investors not so much as a bitcoin company, but as a chip designer focused on developing other markets in artificial intelligence and