Bitmain Co-Founder Claims He Was Illegally Removed, Plans to Sue

With Jihan Wu now leading Bitmain, its former co-founder is claiming this was an illegal power grab—and he plans to take action.

A Managerial Crisis at Bitmain

Bitmain recently experienced a significant shake-up, which some are comparing to a ‘coup’ within the highest levels of management. Jihan Wu now runs the company entirely, but it’s former co-founder, Micree Zhan, is stepping up to claim that his removal was illegal.

The situation does not look like it will be resolved anytime soon. Zhan claims that he was removed from his CEO position ‘without consent’ and was essentially thrown out in an apparent power grab by Wu. Bitmain is the leading Bitcoin mining manufacturer in the world and had some $2.5B in revenue in 2017.

However, the bear market of 2018 badly affected the company, and they have taken heavy losses. A planned IPO for Bitmain was planned this year but fizzled out with little interest, which has forced the company to continue to make cuts and change its business strategy. This latest managerial shakeup seems to be the boldest move yet by the company to set itself on a new footing—but it looks like the actions taken against Zhan were borderline illegal.

Samson Mow (@Excellion) recently reported on Zhan’s open letter to all Bitmain employees, appealing to them for his legal case. Zhan said in the letter that he plans to ‘take back control’ of Bitmain through legal channels. So, we could end up seeing this drama continue to unfold for a long time.

BREAKING: Micree Zhan just sent a open letter to all Bitmain employees confirming that he was removed as the legal representative of the company without consent, and that he will take back control of the company through legal channels. #BitmainDrama #CalledIt 🍿 pic.twitter.com/PTGyof57qt

— Samson Mow (@Excellion) November 7, 2019

The Giant’s New Strategy

The mining giant recently made some bold moves, which indicate that it is getting serious about reasserting itself in the Bitcoin ecosystem. As BeInCrypto reported on two weeks ago, the company recently unveiled a 33,000-acre Bitcoin mining facility in Texas. It is supposedly the world’s largest Bitcoin mining facility.

Interestingly, Bitmain also plans on filing for an IPO again—but this time, with the SEC. Backed by Deutsche Bank, the firm quietly filed last week amidst the managerial shake-up. This seems to all be connected in hindsight.

Bitmain’s market share is too large for it to go bust. So, despite the crisis at the highest level of its management, Bitmain is here to stay. Given its recent activities, it seems that it plans to reinvent itself as we go into the 2020s.

Images courtesy of Twitter, Shutterstock.

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