Three employees fired from BitContinent: partial salary suspension for all employees due to non-compliance with certain mining standards

Lei Jianping, Lei Diwang, October 18th

BitContinent, which was once caught in a wave of risk due to differences among its founders, has recently become unstable.

Recently, multiple accounts with certified information as employees of BitContinent have revealed that due to cash flow issues, all employees' performance pay for September has been deducted, and their basic salary has also been halved.

Subsequently, a notice about BitContinent's "Notice on Suspending the Payment of Partial Wages for All Employees in September" was also exposed online. The notice revealed that BitContinent's operating cash flow in September 2023 had not yet turned positive, especially the progress of some mines (referring to the entry of mining machines into the mines) was seriously not up to standard.

BitContinent has decided to temporarily suspend the payment of partial wages to all employees in September, and will pay them according to the situation after the holiday on October 7th.

Recently, BitContinent issued an internal disciplinary notice, deciding to dismiss three employees involved in publishing company salary information on online platforms such as Pulse, and never hire them.

At the same time, the company has notified the school where the intern is located of its disciplinary opinions, and reserves the right to pursue other legal responsibilities of all personnel involved.

BitContinent reiterated its "Regulations on External Information Disclosure Management" in its announcement, emphasizing that employees are not allowed to disclose any company information to the public without authorization from the company.

According to insiders from BitContinent, three employees were fired due to their violation of the company's internal information disclosure on external online platforms. When to pay wages is a normal business management regulation for enterprises. The "Regulations on the Management of External Information Disclosure" states that without authorization from the company, nothing can be said or given

Formerly popular, but founder infighting erupted

BitContinent is a fabless chip design company and cryptocurrency mining company established in 2013.

In its early years, BitContinent also had a period of glory. BitContinent had several rounds of financing, one of which was $1 billion, led by Sequoia Capital, with investors including hedge fund Coat and Singapore's state-owned emerging market investment fund EDBI.

Another financing was for $560 million, with a pre financing valuation of $14 billion. After the financing, BitContinent's valuation was $14.6 billion.

BitContinent also submitted an prospectus in September 2018, which showed that BitContinent's revenue in the first half of 2018 was $2.845 billion, of which $2.683 billion was from mining machine sales, accounting for 94.3%.

In 2018, the environment of the capital market and Bitcoin market underwent significant changes, and Bitmainland also underwent multiple adjustments, ultimately failing to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. At the annual meeting of that year, Zhanke Tuan even shed tears for a while.

The failure to go public has also exacerbated the internal conflicts within BitContinent. Subsequently, a fierce conflict broke out between the co founder of BitContinent, Zhan Ketuan, and Wu Jihan. Wu Jihan once sent an email to all staff, stating that Zhan Ketuan would be relieved of all positions in BitContinent.

After a week, Zhanke Tuan said, "It's very awkward. I've been working on technology, products, and business, and I have to start learning legal thinking to think. It's embarrassing. As the founder of BitContinent and the largest shareholder, I never knew that the legal representative registered with the government department would suddenly be changed without my knowledge when I was on a business trip

When the big change came, I realized that countless times in movies and TV dramas, the scenes where I once trusted my most trusted partners, fought together with my brothers, and fiercely stabbed me in the back would really happen

In May 2020, during the process of obtaining the business license, Zhanketuan also encountered a disturbance, and the business license was stolen by Liu Luyao's side. According to insiders, Wu Jihan once said that in the past three years, although Zhanketuan was respected as the founder, he destroyed the company's upward momentum and destroyed its billions of dollars in value.

We have weathered the treacherous year of 2019, fought side by side against the Black Swan pandemic, and the time has come for us to make up our minds and courage for the common cause of Bitland. Let's do it, don't be discouraged

In 2021, Zhanketuan and Wu Jihan reached a settlement, and ultimately, Wu Jihan resigned from the positions of CEO and Chairman of BitContinent. Zhanketuan acquired shares held by Wu Jihan and a group of founding shareholders for $600 million. In order to complete the stock purchase, Zhanketuan obtained a loan of $400 million from BitContinent and promised to refinance $200 million from outside the group.

According to the agreed solution, BitContinent will undergo a spin off, with BitXiaoLu, the company's cloud computing business, and the mining operations in Norway, USA being divested. Wu Jihan will serve as BitXiaoLu's chairman and Matt Kong as CEO; Ant Mining Pool was split into an independent company led by the Jank Group.

In April 2023, Bitdeer Technologies also completed a merger with blank check company BlueSafariGroup Acquisition Corp and listed on NASDAQ in the United States. The merger valued Bitdeer at $1.18 billion.

Whether it's Bitland or BitDeer, their performance is highly consistent with the bull bear market cycle of cryptocurrencies. The main reason for the decrease in revenue for BitDeer in 2022 is the decline in Bitcoin prices, which is the most important type of cryptocurrency in BitDeer's business.

In fact, the decline of the Bitcoin mining industry is mainly affected by the decline in Bitcoin prices and the increasing difficulty of mining. With the instability of Bitcoin prices, many mining companies are facing difficulties.

In June 2020, Zhan Ketuan stated that he would lead the company to achieve an IPO as soon as possible and achieve a market value of over $50 billion within the next three to five years. In today's capital and industry environment, it is not realistic for BitContinent to achieve such a large-scale listing.

At present, the peak period of Bitcoin prices has been halved, and Bitmainland has temporarily suspended the payment of partial wages to all employees, which is also a reflection of the industry's difficulties. Like other industries, they need to endure such a long cycle.

Lei Di was founded by media person Lei Jianping. If reprinted, please specify the source.