Bitmain, one of the world's largest suppliers of cryptocurrency mining ASICs, has temporarily halted salary payouts from September, ceased all staff bonuses, and is considering a 50% cut to basic wages due to financial challenges. Additionally, plans for an initial public offering (IPO) have been put on hold, reports CoinTelegraph.
Bitcoin has lost its value in the recent quarters, which made Bitmain's products far less attractive to smaller players. Meanwhile, large miners continued to buy them. For instance, Hive, a significant player in Bitcoin mining that also happens to deploy Intel's mining ASICs, recently acquired 2,000 units of Bitmain's S19 XP ASIC miners. Each of these devices carries a list price tag of $4,653, though it is unclear how much Hive paid for them. After integrating these devices, Hive reportedly anticipated its tools to yield a revenue of $80 per megawatt hour, which encompasses earnings from both Bitmain and other models.
Beijing-based Bitmain is one of the world's largest makers of cryptocurrency mining hardware that reportedly commanded 70% of the market and even managed to obtain priority access to TSMC's production capacities. The company's Antminer ASIC line is recognized for its hash rate efficiency in mining Bitcoin. Their standing in the market was so formidable that many in the industry considered their products the gold standard.
But 2019 and 2020 were tumultuous years for Bitmain and its leadership. A protracted conflict between its co-founders, Jihan Wu and Micree Zhan, reached a climax in 2021, which the duo finally settle: Wu agreed to step back from his chairman and CEO roles and sell his company stake to Zhan for $600 million.
Amidst these corporate shake-ups, Bitmain had eyed an aggressive growth strategy. In 2021, they were gearing up for an initial public offering (IPO) with aspirations of achieving a whopping $5 billion valuation by the close of 2022. However, the ongoing financial downturn in the market seems to have dashed these plans, at least for the foreseeable future.
