Change In Leadership For Bitmain

By Rishma Banerjee

Bitmain Technologies Ltd., known more as just Bitmain, is a privately owned company with its headquarters in Beijing, China, that designs application-specific integrated circuit chips that are needed for bitcoin mining. As per reports published by the South China Morning Post, there are some big changes that are supposedly being adopted by the company with regards to their leadership.  Citing people with knowledge of the matter, the SCMP says Bitmain co-founders Jihan Wu and Zhan Ketuan will be replaced by a new CEO.

The most likely candidate for the position would be Wang Haichao, who is already doing some of Wu and Ketuan’s responsibilities ever since December. According to whatever reports that are available, the two co-founders will be now be serving as co-chairs of the company. One of the sources from SCMP commented:

“After Wang takes over, Wu and Zhan will move away from the company’s day-to-day business activities but will still make final calls on big decisions.”

The long ongoing slump in the crypto market has exhibited considerable impact, with the dwindling of prices. This has had a double effect on the company, as, first of all, the demand for mining hardware has also decreased, and moreover, substantial cryptocurrency holdings have taken a beating. As of Q1 2018, the company held $887 million worth of Bitcoin Cash BCH, -12.14%, according to BitMex Research. BCH is down almost 95% in the last year. In the second part of the analysis conducted by BitMex Research, the authors estimated that Bitmain posted a $400 million loss in Q2 of 2018.

Bitmain has also recently closed down its Israeli research and development facility, and the company has also confirmed job cuts in late December, although they have not the number of employees that they are planning to lay off.

Rishma Banerjee

Rishma is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and has a special place in her life for sifting through all sorts of random trivia, thank you very much.

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