It has been rumored for a few days now – that Bitmain firing staff would happen within a few days – and according to sources from Chinese Media, it’s been confirmed. The Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain will be laying off staffers at the end of this week.
The Beijing company laid off the team which was working on the development of a Bitcoin Cash client. Samson Mow, Bockstream Chief Strategy Officer and former BTCC Chief Operational Officer, broke the news by tweeting: “Bitmain has quietly laid off their entire Copernicus team. Only 1-week notice. Some had just joined the company. Layoffs just in time for Christmas.”
The rumors started to gain more credibility as people, potentially with a chip on their shoulders as ex-employees of Bitmain, started sharing their exit stories on LinkedIn. Sanyan Finance, a Chinese media outlet, reached out to Bitmain employees for further confirmation. They were able to confirm that HR at Bitmain was speaking to employees about “something”, but nothing concrete.
Before the layoffs, Bitmain had already suspended operations in Israel. Bitmaintech Israel, which Bitmain had founded in 2016, reportedly had its entire team fired, including Vice President Gadi Glikberg, citing losses incurred during the latest crypto massacre.
“The crypto market has undergone a shakeup in the past few months, which has forced Bitmain to examine its various activities around the globe and refocus its business by the current situation,” Glikberg confirmed.
In November, the cryptocurrency market cap lost $70 billion dollars following the Bitcoin Cash fork. The Bitcoin Cash fork ended up with a split chain – ABC and SV. Bitmain supported Roger Ver and those supporting ABC by diverting their available hash power to their allies. The extent of the damage is not yet known, but it can be assumed that this could have been a catalyst for Bitmain’s firing spree.
Bitmain has almost 2,000 employees worldwide. It is expected to drop to 300 by the time the sacking is complete.
What do you think? We’ve been discussing this in the pro group for a little while. What are you doing to hedge yourself and prepare yourself for 2019? We know Financial institutions are coming into the space. Retail investors are too. We firmly believe we’re early adopters in this space. Let us know on our Facebook page.
