Bitmain, the maker of bitcoin application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), has suspended salary payments to employees for September and beyond.
According to recent local news reportsAccording to several Bitmain employees familiar with the matter, the company has allegedly cut all “bonuses and incentives” for its staff and has yet to pay compensation owed since last month. Additionally, employees face a 50% cut in their base salary. A message supposedly from Bitmain says:
“For the month of September, the company has yet to achieve positive net cash flow, especially on (new) ASIC orders. Therefore, the Executive Management Team decided that salaries for the month of September will be suspended and reviewed after October 7 after the holiday.”
Founded in Beijing, China in 2013, Bitmain is one of the largest bitcoin (btc) mining ASIC manufacturers in the world, with an estimated 70% market share during its peak. The company’s Antminer ASIC series currently leads the industry in terms of hash rate calculations for mining bitcoin.
In August, bitcoin miner Hive Announced the purchase of 2,000 Bitmain S19 XP ASIC miners for immediate implementation on their platforms. The S19XP ASIC miners have a list price of $4,653 on Bitmain. Hive said that after its integrations, the company’s mining rigs will generate a combined revenue of $80 per megawatt hour, including legacy and non-Bitmain models.
In 2021, Jihan Wu, co-founder of Bitmain, Announced the resolution of a year-long ownership dispute with co-founder Micree Zhan. Under the deal, Wu would step down as chairman and CEO of Bitmain and sell his stake to Zhan for $600 million. At the time, Bitmain was planning an initial public offering with a valuation of $5 billion by the end of 2022. These plans are believed to have been shelved due to the current bear market.
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