Former Bitmain employees look for a new start

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After suffering from the folly of their former employer, former employees of Bitmain are trying to get a fresh start. Coindesk reports that a group that was laid off are looking to start their own crypto-financing service. The new firm is said to be developing cryptocurrency custody, over-the-counter (OTC) trading and crypto-lending services.

According to the report, Bitmain essentially has two major groupings. The first belongs to co-founder Jihan Wu and focuses primarily on blockchain technology and Bitcoin Cash (BCHABC) development, while the second group was focused on crypto mining hardware.

This group, now no longer with Bitmain, was from Wu’s camp. However, the new venture does not appear to be tied to Wu, and instead carries the name of Yuesheng Ge, another major shareholder of Bitmain. However another report indicates Wu, who has resigned as CEO from Bitmain, may come on board eventually. Bitmain tells Coindesk that Wu is still working there for the moment.

Bitmain has been struggling hard ever since the November 2018 hard fork that saw BCHABC fork off from the original Bitcoin vision, now championed by Bitcoin SV (BSV).

Their initial public offering (IPO) may not push through because of major losses in revenue, which would only hurt the company’s financials even more. They also have struggled with lawsuits over their alleged manipulation of the Bitcoin Cash network. As a result, they have had to cut costs to stay afloat, with layoffs in Israel, China, Texas and Amsterdam.

It’s hard to blame those employees for wanting to salvage their hard work and know-how for another crypto venture. As cryptocurrency exchanges step up to offer more professional services, custody services are in high demand, not just for security purposes, but also because of increasing regulations.

The best thing that could happen for these ex-Bitmain employees would be if Wu stayed away from their new venture. His reckless ambition had a lot to do with Bitmain’s downfall, and his involvement in their new venture would not lend any credibility or advantage to their future success.