Legal Battle Between Bitmain Co-Founders Appears to End With Micree Zhan Taking Control of the Company

The long-lasting legal battle between co-founders of China-based Bitmain seems to have seen the light at the end of the tunnel after both parties agreed to reach an agreement.

Legal Tussle Between Bitmain Co-Founders Reportedly Ended With a $600 Million Compensation for Jihan Wu

According to Chinese media outlets, citing local crypto journalist Colin Wu, Jihan Wu and Micree Zhan reportedly agreed to arrange a $600 million compensation in favor of Jihan Wu, while Zhan will retain the control of the mining hardware manufacturer company operations.

However, as part of the settlement, Zhan will own the Antpool mining pool and Bitmain’s mining farms in China, while Wu will take control of Btc.com’s mining pool and overseas mining centers of Bitmain.

The report details that Sequoia Capital is acting as the middle regulator in the deal that should be ratified once the shareholders discuss it, but terms can be changed at any stage without a fixed timetable, even without the need for a meeting.

On the other hand, Zhan is now in charge of the artificial intelligence division and the entire mining hardware manufacturing enterprise operations as part of the deal.

However, it implies that Zhan should temporarily mortgage his shares to raise enough capital to buy Wu’s stake in Bitmain.

Chinese media outlets are also reporting that as part of the deal, Zhan agreed to complete a qualified initial public offering in the United States before the end of 2022, whose minimum valuation of the listing is expected to be set at $5.5 billion.

Legal Battle Led to Delay in Product Shippings

The crypto mining hardware manufacturer giant has been witnessing some troubles in delivering its products due to the tussle between co-founders over the year.

As news.Bitcoin.com reported in August 2020, Bitmain delayed its Antminer bitcoin mining machines’ shipments by three months. At that time, Bitmain said that the delay resulted from “external interference over the company’s management.”

Wu and Zhan have been engaged in a bitter struggle for Bitmain’s control. The two cofounders ran the company together for many years, but Zhan was allegedly booted out of Wu’s firm last October 2019 over controversial circumstances.

In June 2020, a court in China ruled in favor of Zhan, allowing him to return to power. Zhan, who owns a 37% stake in the company, assumed control of Bitmain’s Shenzhen-based operations.