Bitmain’s Civil War has a Winner
Bitmain, the world’s largest cryptocurrency mining rig provider, has seen a major power clash: one of the co-founders, Micree Zhan, was overthrown by the other, Jihan Wu, who had previously stepped back from his role in the company. The coup happened right after the mining giant’s rival, Canaan Creative, filed for an IPO on Nasdaq, while Bitmain shelved it’s IPO in Hong Kong earlier this year because of the “crypto winter”.
Jihan Wu caught a rising market after Xi Jinping’s blockchain endorsement, and made an outstanding comeback. Wu has took over the roles of executive director and legal representative of Bitmain from Zhan abruptly, changing Bitmain’s corporate structure in the registration filing with government agencies.
Wu then sent an email to Bitmain employees threatening punishment if they continued to meet or communicate with Zhan. He says, “Any Bitmain staff shall no longer take any direction from Zhan, or participate in any meeting organized by Zhan. Bitmain may, based on the situation, consider terminating employment contracts of those who violate this note.”
“If employees cause any harm to the company’s economic interests, the company will investigate their civil or criminal liability in accordance with the law,” Wu wrote in the memo, signing off as Bitmain’s co-founder and chairman.
Wu and Zhan hold 21 per cent and 37 per cent of the company, respectively, according to Bitmain’s IPO prospectus for Hong Kong.
Financial Times reports that Wu and Zhan have had disagreements on the overall company’s strategy. One of the experts cited notes that the return of Jihan Wu “is a Steve Jobs coming back to save Apple situation.”