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The Visionary Behind Bitmain’s Success and Bitdeer’s Growth
- Jihan Wu is one of the founders of Bitmain and led it to generate over $3 billion in annual revenue by 2017.
- After leaving Bitmain, Wu founded Bitdeer and Matrixport, driving innovation in crypto mining and financial services.
At the beginning of the 2010-2020 decade, Jihan Wu, a name associated with cryptocurrency innovation, began his journey into the world of digital currencies. That He was born and raised in China; his academic training in psychology and economics at Peking University provided him with a special foundation for his later activities.
Deeply interested in Bitcointranslated Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin whitepaper into Chinese, allowing the Chinese-speaking world access to this revolutionary idea.
2013 saw Wu co-found Bitmain with Micree Zhan. By producing effective mining hardware, the company quickly became very well known and began to dominate the Bitcoin mining market. With much better efficiency than conventional hardware, Bitmain’s ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) miners transformed Bitcoin mining.
Bitmain’s meteoric rise
Bitmain consolidated its dominant position in the cryptocurrency market in 2017, when it generated annual revenues of over $3 billion.
Low-cost mining rig production and efficient marketing techniques have driven its explosive expansion. Bitmain has not only built hardware, but has also accumulated significant reserves of bitcoin, thus confirming its impact on the market.
But rapid success brought with it difficulties. Bitmain has been accused of unethical business methods and further rivalry from other mining equipment companies. The tense internal dynamics between Wu and Zhan also led to a power struggle that would ultimately change the course of the business.
Simmering conflicts between Wu and Zhan erupted into a public dispute over Bitmain’s ownership in 2018. The dispute centered on differing ideas about the direction of the business.
While Zhan wanted to focus on maintaining Bitmain’s supremacy in mining hardware, Wu argued for the need to diversify the cryptocurrency market into other sectors, including extraction and trade.
October 2019 saw the issue come to a head when Zhan was removed from his position as CEO. Wu replaced him as CEO, but internal friction and court cases continued. Ultimately, the conflict was resolved out of court; Wu stepped down as CEO in January 2020.
Founding New Ventures: Foundry Digital and Matrixport
Wu left Bitmain without wasting any time in starting new businesses. He founded Foundry Digital, a company focused on bitcoin mining. Foundry, which operates major mining operations in the United States, has quickly become a key player in the industry.
In addition to Foundry, Wu founded Matrixport, a crypto-financial services firm aimed at providing the massive Bitcoin ecosystem with a Wall Street-like structure.
Matrixport provides custody, financing, and trading among its various services. With a valuation of $1.5 billion, the company has attracted large investments, including a $100 million Series C round in 2023.
Leadership at Bitdeer
Wu founded Bitdeer Technologies Group, a spinoff of Bitmain, in a calculated move to increase its impact on the cryptocurrency market. With data centers around the world, including the United States, Norway, and Bhutan, Bitdeer focuses on high-performance computing and blockchain technologies.
From raw materials to final product distribution, the vertically integrated business model allows you to supervise the entire production process.
Wu’s appointment as Bitdeer CEO in March 2024 confirmed his leadership position within the company. Bitdeer has continued to grow under his leadership, making major investments, including a $150 million investment from Tether to upgrade its data center architecture and create new mining methods.
In addition to his business endeavors, Wu actively supports Bitcoin Cash (BCH), a hard fork of Bitcoin intended to offer a more scalable and efficient variant of the original coin. Wu has criticized the Bitcoin development community for failing to properly address the cryptocurrency’s scalability issues and believes BCH represents a viable answer.
Wu’s dedication to blockchain innovation is also evident in his co-founding work with the Conflux Foundation. The foundation is the creation of a new blockchain platform designed to be more scalable and secure than current options like Bitcoin and Ethereal.
Jihan Wu’s journey in the cryptocurrency industry is distinguished by his tenacious pursuit of ideas and his fortitude in the face of adversity. His ability to navigate the turbulent waters of the cryptocurrency industry and become a major player demonstrates his vision and will.
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