Bitmain Looks to Expand their Development Center in Israel; Opens Shop in San Jose, California
Bitmain, the Chinese Bitcoin mining giant currently valued at $12 billion, is looking to expand their Development Center in Israel and recruit more than 40 people. The new round of recruitment will triple the current number of employees at the Ra’anana center based on July 2018 reports.
Golden Opportunity to Grow
According to Globes, an Israeli business news site, Bitmain, the leading hardware and database management for Bitcoin mining is looking to recruit more than 40 researchers, senior software and security engineers, Python and JavaScript programmers, and marketers for its Ra’anana Development Center. There are currently 15 people employed at the Ra’anana center which is currently managed by Gadi Glikberg, Bitmain’s VP of International Sales and Marketing.
Although the overall cryptocurrency market capitalization has fallen nearly 60 percent down to $284 billion at press time, Bitmain does not appear so concerned about the decline in value. Many mining operators see the slump as an opportunity to plan, grow and expand.
The global international Bitcoin mining industry, according to the Digiconomist, is estimated to be $4.5 billion per annum. Although the annual cost of Bitcoin mining is roughly $3.5 billion, the industry has a profit margin of approximately 20 percent.
“There has been huge momentum at Bitmain in the past year, arising from growing adoption of blockchain technology in general and digital currencies in particular,” said Gilkberg.
“The world may be in a period of relative calm after the great hope of December 2017, but for the major companies in the field this is a golden opportunity to plan, build, and grow, and Bitmain has identified the potential of Israeli know-how and capabilities to contribute to the company’s global effort.“
Bitmain currently stands as the largest international company when it comes to production and marketing of dedicated hardware for cryptocurrency mining. Although Bitmain is based in Beijing, it has development centers around the world in Amsterdam, Ra’anana, and Hong Kong. The Ra’anana development center was established in 2016 and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange-listed Blockchain Mining as one of Bitmain’s clients in Israel.
Jihan Wu, Bitmain’s CEO invests in EOS
Although Bitmain is well-known for manufacturing Bitcoin miners, the Beijing-based company formed an investment arm in early 2018. Bitmain has therefore grown into a giant conglomerate and has invested heavily in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.
In 2018, Bitmain led a $110 million Series E round for Circle, a cryptocurrency exchange and wallet platform. Bitmain backed the company’s vision of maintaining private central banks that are separate and independent from government control. Bitmain had also recently invested in Block.One, the developer of EOS. Investing in Block.One aligns with Bitmain’s goal to expand and grow in the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector.
“The EOSIO protocol is a great example of blockchain innovation,” said Wu. “Its performance and scalability can meet the demands of demanding consumer applications and will pave the way for mainstream blockchain adoption.”
According to Silicon Valley Business Journal, Bitmain has also recently moved into downtown San Jose, occupying a 20,000 square feet office space. It filed the last vacant position in the Riverpark Towers office building. The building also plays host to other major startups like WeWork, Okta, and Cohesity.
As one of the largest cryptocurrency companies in the world, Bitmain believes that after its planned Initial public offering (IPO) later this year, it could reach a valuation of approximately $40 billion.
