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Bitmain, the world’s largest cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturer, has had tumultuous few months. The company is going through a significant senior management shuffle and is now reported to shut suspend operations in Rockdale, Texas.
Operations Suspended?
Bitmain is reportedly suspending its’ its operations in the town of Rockdale located east of the city of Austin, Texas. The future of what was once supposed to be the biggest US-based cryptocurrency mine now seems uncertain at best.
Speaking on the matter was Milam County Judge Steve Young, who said:
“I’m really disappointed because we had advertised this. We had waited for this. We had wanted this. We had welcomed this. […] This was huge; we need some positive news here. We need some jobs here. We need a tax base here, and this was a step in the right direction.”
The cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturer announced its plans to invest more than $500 million over an initial period of seven years back in August 2018. The price of Bitcoin back then was circling $8,000, while, at the time of writing this, Bitcoin’s price is $3,600.
Amid the tumbling market, a spokesman from Bitmain has said that the company is adjusting to the market conditions:
“The right-sized team at Rockdale now has the expertise to re-start the project at small scale anytime. Bitmain would like to ramp up the site at a slower pace and scale based on market conditions.”
Nevertheless, it was recently reported that Bitmain would lay off more than 50% of its staff. According to Young, Bitmain has reduced its Rockdale staff to five employees from around 15.
Senior Management Shuffle
The news of Bitmain seizing operations in Texas comes a day after it was reported that the company is going through a significant senior management shuffle.
Reportedly, co-founders Jihan Wu and Zhan Ketuan will be stepping down from the company’s day-to-day
activities as they appoint a new CEO. According to the reports, the person to assume the role is Wang Haichao – a product engineering director at Beijing-based semiconductor company called Availink.
Anonymous sources familiar to the matter have revealed that Wang has already assumed specific responsibilities from both co-CEOs. He’s in a transition period since December.
Bitmain applied for a public listing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) last year. It seems, however, that the company’s chances for obtaining a public listing are thinning down.
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