China's e-commerce giant Alibaba has filed what may be the biggest tech IPO yet. On Tuesday, the Alibaba Group filed its registration documents to go public in the U.S., in what may become one of the largest initial public offerings in American history.

While the average tech consumer in the United States may still be unfamiliar with the Chinese e-commerce company, Alibaba now gets a closer look at its operations that already account for 80 percent of all the e-commerce activities in China. It is expected to rank among the biggest technology firms in the world including Oracle and IBM once it goes public.

Bloomberg News recently surveyed trading analysts about Alibaba's public offering, and the polls suggested that the value of Alibaba could be as high as a nearly $170 billion, while others expect an even higher valuation at $250 billion when trading begins.

Research director of Canalys China, Nicole Peng, added that the company still has "great potential to grow in the domestic market." She says that this is worth noting, despite efforts that have been focused on expanding outside the country.

While Alibaba is making big news in the tech world, the company closely guards its IPO details and its exact size. Many expect it to raise beyond $15 billion in its public offering and even if it will be months away, Alibaba Group already shelled out a $1 billion placeholder for its registration documents with the Security and Exchange Commission. Moreover, other details were not included such as those regarding how many shares will be offered for sale, its initial valuation, and other paperwork.

More details will be disclosed during the days leading up to the expected initial public offering.

A former English teacher, Jack Ma, founded Alibaba in 1999. It started as a web marketplace for Chinese companies until it expanded towards an all-compassing retail system online, benefiting from the rapid growth of the domestic economy.