Bitmain’s Co-founder, Jihan Wu, has officially declared that he is stepping down from the giant Bitcoin miner manufacturer to resolve a year-long internal power conflict with rival co-founder Micree Zhan. The Chinese billionaire cryptocurrency entrepreneur published a cryptic tweet on 26 January suggesting a settlement with Bitmain’s co-founder, Micree Zhan.
Bitmain has its headquarters in Beijing, China. Jihan Wu and Micree Zhan established Bitmain in 2013. Moreover, the two co-founders have been into a civil battle. The corporate dispute started with Wu forcing Zhan out of Bitmain in October 2019. During the time, Zhan was the firm’s largest shareholder. He later attributed Wu’s actions as an “illegal power seizure.”
After the dismissal of Zhan, he went on offensive, openly saying he had no power to work as a legal representative of the mining giant or issue notices and guidance to company employees. There were also rumors of legal action against Zhan. The Bitmain executive struck back in a few forms before today’s final settlement. Moreover, he filed two lawsuits against Bitmain’s different entities to recover his position. He cited Wu for spreading rumors, commissioning a group to steal a physical copy of his business license, and hiding company assets. Zhan also supposedly took over the company’s Beijing office in May with a team of guards.
Intricate details about settlement between Co-founders of Bitmain
However, following a year-long period of allegations and power moves, Wu has ultimately chosen to quit. The settlement amount for approximately half of Bitmain shares held by Bitsource, a group of shareholders, which involves Wu, is $600 million. Zhan will receive a $400 million loan from Bitmain’s cash reserves and employ another $200 million private funds to close the transaction. In conclusion, the company will have only $327 million in reserves, according to Wu.
Moreover, Wu will also acquire Bitmain’s company, Bitdeer, a mining farm operational in the U.S. and Norway. Besides the monetary and business compensation, Wu also can delegate two out of five board members to the Chinese manufacturing company. The Co-founder has decided Xiang Zhu and Jianchun Liu for the positions. Bitmain pushed for a Hong Kong stock market IPO in 2019. However, it failed because of unfavorable market conditions and the rift between co-founders. Jihan Wu informed that the new business model would make it much more comfortable to proceed with an IPO.
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