Upheaval at Bitcoin Mining Giant Bitman sees Jihan Wu Return to the Helm

Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain is once again reportedly undergoing an upheaval within its upper hierarchy. Bitmain’s ex-figurehead Jihan Wu seems to be calling the shots, dismissing co-founder Micree Zhan. The news of the organizational restructuring at Bitmain comes as mining rival Canaan is moving forward with its U.S. IPO.

Micree Zhan Reportedly Dismissed from Bitmain

According to Primitive Ventures co-founder and trusted Chinese crypto news source Dovey Wan, Jihan Wu is back to running the affairs of Bitmain. In a series of tweets published on Tuesday (October 29, 2019), Wan reports that Wu has taken over as “legal representative of Bitmain in China” from Zhan.

https://twitter.com/DoveyWan/status/1189038548281745410

According to Wan, the change in leadership appears to have been an ugly affair. An excerpt from an email reportedly from Wu to the entire Bitmain workforce reads:

“Micree Zhan is dismissed from all operating positions from the company immediately. No one should take orders from him or attend his meeting”

Blockstream chief Samson Mow also echoed similar sentiments, highlighting the fact that the change seems to have occurred without approval from investors and shareholders.

As previously reported by BTCManager, the Bitcoin mining giant also had a management shakeup earlier in the year with the appointment of a new CEO Haichao Wang.

I'm leaning towards the theory that the replacement of Micree as legal representative (法定代表人) was NOT done with investor/shareholder approval because the change was messy. See below for the corp update. Micree was still left on as 经理 (manager) which seems rushed. pic.twitter.com/50lHgvilQx

— Samson Mow (@Excellion) October 29, 2019

Will Bitcoin Cash Suffer?

According to Wan, Zhan might retaliate by dumping his considerable Bitcoin Cash (BCH) holdings reported to be about 1.6 million BCH (about $459 million). Such a massive dump might cause the price of BCH to dip considerably.

However, the 4th-ranked cryptocurrency appears to be pumping significantly on the back of the Bitmain saga. Data from CoinMarketCap shows BCH to be up by almost 10 percent since the news emerged.

Canaan $400 Million IPO

Wu’s return to the helm of affairs at Bitmain comes as one of its biggest competitors Canaan Creative appears set for its U.S. IPO. According to Reuters, the makers of the Avalon Bitcoin miners have filed for a $400 million IPO on Nasdaq.

This move is Canaan’s third attempt at conducting an IPO after failed attempts in China and Hong Kong. As part of its IPO filing, the Bitcoin miners reported a loss of $45.8 million for the first half of 2019.

Back in June, BTCManager reported that Bitmain was looking to resurrect its IPO plans amid a rapidly increasing BTC spot price. The company has also expanded its mining operations, with a new mega facility in Rochdale, Texas.