Micree Zhan-led Bitmain blocks hardware shipment to customers

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Bitmain, now again under the control of Micree Zhan, is reportedly preventing orders of its ASIC hardware from being shipped to paying customers, according to Beijing-based BlockBeats.

In response, Bitmain’s other co-founder Jihan Wu issued an internal letter to the Bitmain team saying that they would be solving the problems created by Zhan through “legal channels.” That being said, you can expect there to be more legal action in the ongoing battle between Wu and Zhan who are competing for control of the company.

Bitmain’s civil war

The shipping incident is the latest battle in the civil war that Bitmain co-founders have waged against one another. It all started back in October 2019, when Wu, who had previously left his post as Bitmain CEO, sent out an announcement that Zhan had been dismissed from all of his roles at Bitmain.

Zhan claimed that Wu had illegally relieved him from his roles at Bitmain, and decided to take legal action to overturn his removal. In April 2020, the Beijing Haidian District Justice Bureau sided with Zhan, and the court’s decision re-established Zhan as the company’s legal representative.

The following month, Zhan went to pick up his government granted license that proved he was the legal representative of Bitmain. However, several employees met Zhan at the government office and tried to take the license from him by force—but failed to do so.

On June 4, Zhan regained control of Bitmain’s Beijing office with the help of several security guards.

And in the latest spat, Zhan has prohibited employees from shipping Bitmain’s ASIC hardware from the company’s Shenzen factory.

Is there more?

Although Zhan appears to be the company’s legal representative, Wu and other executives from Bitmain, such as Bitmain CFO Luyao Liu, are fighting to remove Zhan from his role once again. Given that Wu said he would be leveraging legal channels to solve the company’s internal problems, you can expect more disputes between Wu and Zhan in the near future.