TL;DR: According to an internal email, leaked today, cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain is being led again at the executive level by co-founder Jihan Wu. The translated notice to employees explains Wu has dismissed fellow co-founder Micree Zhan Ketuan in “all roles” and “effective immediately.” Wu’s return to the main position sent crypto prices to green, but the project closely associated with him, Bitcoin Cash, has so far received the greatest gains.



Jihan Wu Re-Assumes Bitmain Leadership Role

One translation of the internal memo read, “Bitmain’s co-founder, chairman, legal representative and executive director Jihan Wu has decided to dismiss all roles of Ketuan Zhan, effective immediately. Any Bitmain staff shall no longer take any direction from Zhan, or participate in any meeting organized by Zhan. Bitmain may, based on the situation, consider terminating employment contracts of those who violate this note.”

The world’s largest mining company has as its head again one of its original founders, or at least that’s the import of a leaked circulating email among employees. What seems clear is Zhan is out, and Bitmain is primarily back in Wu’s hands — a significant boost for the cryptocurrency community of which he is tied.

Employees at Bitmain were apparently instructed to no longer collaborate with Zhan in his previous official company capacity, and though CoinSpice has not received official comment from the mining concern, a person familiar with the matter did indeed confirm the memo (“yes…true”) and its import to CoinSpice on background shortly before press time. Congratulations began to emerge almost immediately on the news gaining traction. Crypto industry leaders such as Haipo Yang from the exchange CoinEx noted, “Congratulations @JihanWu Take over @BITMAINtech control again. Wish Bitmain great again.” Bitcoin cash (BCH) surged on the news more than 10%, leading all top 10 coins by market cap in 24 trading.

It’s unclear how sudden Wu’s re-ascension really was, but Zhan’s departure certainly is a surprise to many analysts. Bitmain had a brutal 2018, resulting in layoffs and restructuring, including Wu stepping aside to run other, related projects. In recent weeks, however, Wu has taken a decidedly more visible, public role, key-noting the company’s annual conference in Germany and giving a rare interview in English. The company itself seemed to also be upping its crypto mining emphasis of late, announcing a large data farm in Texas recently.

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DISCLOSURE: The author holds cryptocurrency as part of his financial portfolio, including BCH.