Following a brief intermission, the clash between Micree Zhan and Jihan Wu, the estranged co-founders of Bitcoin miningmining hardware firm Bitmain, has resumed.
According to a post on Bitmain-owned Antminer’s WeChat, 10,000 Antminers at a mining farm in Inner Mongolia were “illegally moved” in mid-July by former Bitmain staff, causing “severe financial damage to Bitmain and its customers”.
What has happened to the Antminers?
While some Antminer buyers choose to operate their miners themselves, many opt to co-locate their miners at a Bitmain-owned mining farm in exchange for a monthly fee and a cut of revenue from the miner. Many of the vanished Antminers are in this category.
The Bitmain subsidiary that currently owns the farm is Fujian Zhanhua Intelligent Technology Company, which, according to public records, is controlled by Zhan. As Decrypt previously reported, Zhan set this company up to operate Bitmain’s bank account; he was no longer in control of the firm’s official account, as Jihan Wu had the company chop in his possession.
In a Weibo post from Bitmain’s main account, Zhan accused Wu of attempting to “illegally transfer” the Antminers, which he maintains are Bitmain’s property, into a company controlled by Wu.
A Weibo post from Bitmain's official account. The document in the post is a legal demand that the missing Antminers be returned, stamped by Bitmain and its four subsidiaries (Source: Weibo)
Who controls what at Bitmain?
The battle between Zhan and Wu is over the position of Legal Representative of Bitmain. With this position comes control of the corporate chop, and thus unlimited signing authority on behalf of the company.
Although Zhan controls the firm’s Beijing office and its Shenzhen factory, Wu remains Bitmain’s Legal Representative, and controls the Hong Kong parent of Bitmain China; in June, Wu reportedly cut off the supply of chips from Taiwanese company TSMC to Bitmain's factory.
As mighty as an Antminer
Bitmain’s Antminers are a major contributor to the world’s hashing power. The Antminer S9, the company's flagship, produced approximately 23% of the world’s hashing power according to a report by CoinMetrics.
Source: CoinMetrics
As Antminer plays such a crucial role in the world’s hashing power, the uncertainty over its management continues to concern miners and the Chinese crypto community—moreso, according to one report, than the floods in Bitcoin mining hotspot Sichuan.
This story was produced in collaboration with our friends at Forkast, a content platform focused on emerging technology at the intersection of business, economy, and politics, from Asia to the world.
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
Another day, another crypto treasury. Biotech firm Windtree Therapeutics said Thursday that it plans to buy up to $700 million worth of BNB to put on its balance sheet—one day after the asset hit a new all-time high price.
The Warrington, Pennsylvania-based company, which trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker WINT, said that it is raising up to $520 million to fuel BNB purchases after previously announcing a plan to buy $200 million in the cryptocurrency. It also said it would partner with crypt...
A former digital assets executive at BlackRock, Joseph Chalom, has joined publicly traded Ethereum treasury company SharpLink Gaming as co-CEO, the firm announced on Friday.
Chalom, who helped launch BlackRock’s Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, led the financial giant’s strategy on digital assets as the managing director and head of strategic ecosystem partnerships.
“After 20 years at BlackRock and helping to lead its digital asset strategy, I’m beginning a new chapter: I’ve joined SharpLink Gaming a...
At Tron’s principal place of business in Winter Park, Florida, there are no apparent signs of Chinese crypto mogul Justin Sun or the $30 billion blockchain that he founded, such as placards, business cards, or even a sign.
Instead, the publicly traded Tron—formerly known as SRM Entertainment—keeps a low profile at Regus, a communal office space in the affluent Orlando suburb, where the firm specialized in designing theme park merchandise and stuffed goods under its previous name.
Two representat...