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.
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.
