Leading Chinese cryptocurrency hardware maker and miner Bitmain Technologies Inc. reported a $500 million loss in the third quarter as the price of bitcoin continued to drop.

The figure comes from Coindesk, which claimed today that the loss was confidentially reported in an update of financial results to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as part of a review into Bitmain’s application for an initial public offering.

Bitmain is said to have earned $500 million for the first nine months of 2018 on about $3 billion in revenue. The company had previously claimed to have made $1 billion in the first half of the year, hence its third-quarter loss is calculated at $500 million.

A spokesperson for Bitmain denied the report, telling a Chinese outlet that “the rumors are not true and we will make announcements in due course in accordance with the requirements of relevant laws and regulations.”

A loss wouldn’t be the least bit surprising. Trouble at the company, which both makes bitcoin mining equipment and mines bitcoin itself, first emerged Dec. 10 when Bitmain announced the closure its Israeli research and development office. The cuts in staff went further, with a report Dec. 25 claiming that Bitmain was laying off up to 50 percent of its staff worldwide as the crash in cryptocurrency prices started to bite.

Bitmain has suffered in both its key businesses. As the world’s largest maker of cryptocurrency mining equipment, demand for new machines has dried up as the prices obtained from mining cryptocurrencies has fallen below the cost of mining them.

Along with a number of mining companies going out of business, it was reported in November that more than 20,000 mining rigs have gone dark and mining companies were selling them as scrap, even pricing the devices per kilogram rather than individually.

Bitmain’s mining business has also suffered as the company faced the same issues as the other mining companies: Mining has become too expensive to operate under poor market conditions.

Despite its financial issues, the one surprising takeaway is that Bitmain is still pursuing an IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Officially, Bitmain remains upbeat, highlighting advancements in its artificial intelligence division in January and announcing a next-generation seven-nanometer custom chip Feb. 18.

Image: Bitmain