Bitmain closing European office – yet another indication that Bitmain is struggling during cryptocurrency’s bear market that started in 2018. Their Amsterdam office will be closed, a part of its ongoing business adjustments to stay solvent during these tough times.
In a statement, a Bitmain spokesperson said that, while the company has not yet totally shut down its Amsterdam operation, the decision is final and the process to implement the decision is underway.
“As we build a long-term, sustainable and scalable business, we are making adjustments to our staff and operations. This includes the decision to close our Amsterdam and Israel offices.”
Bitmain has not released the timeline of when this decision will be completed, or how many staff will be laid off. From LinkedIn, there are at least 9 people identified as Bitmain employees in Amsterdam. Their responsibilities listed mostly focus on the day-to-day operations and development of Bitmain’s flagship mining pool BTC.com.
“We are really focusing on things that are core to our mission and not things that are auxiliary. We will continue to hire the best talent from a diverse range of background,” Bitmain said.
One month ago, December 2018, Bitmain confirmed that there would be as many 50% of their workforce to be given pink slips. This included the closure of its Israeli office, with the layoff of over 20 staff. Bitmain cited the steep decline of the overall cryptocurrency market in 2018, the bear market, as the reason for this move.
Bitmain has also reportedly halted its mining operations in Rockdale in Texas’s Milam County. This follows an announcement a few months ago that the new site would bring up to 400 jobs via a $500 million dollar investment.
Bitmain has confirmed, however, that Rockdale’s mining farm is not being abandoned, however, did state that “no location/teams are excluded from” the company-wide cutbacks.
Bitmain’s staff at the Rockdale mining site, minus two engineers and a HR director, has been laid off, with all operations being suspended.
Milam County judge Steve Young said: “I’m really disappointed because we had advertised this. We had waited for this. We had wanted this. We had welcomed this.”
Bitmain’s latest news comes at a rough time for the company. The Chinese company’s 2 CEO’s, Jihan Wu and Micree Zahn have recently resigned. This follows a time of rapid expansion by Bitmain in 2017 and 2018.
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