Leaked Transcript Details Power Struggle Inside Bitcoin Mining Giant Bitmain

A partial transcript of an internal meeting at Bitmain on Tuesday details a long-running power struggle that led to the sudden ousting of co-founder Micree Zhan.

The abrupt dismissal of Zhan comes just one week after Bitmain filed for another IPO attempt in the U.S., according to a report by Tencent News.

A transcript of a Bitmain staff meeting reveals an ugly power struggle inside the world's biggest bitcoin miner maker that led to the abrupt ousting of co-founder Micree Ketuan Zhan.

In it, Jihan Wu, a co-founder of Bitmain who started the company with Zhan in 2013, explained to all employees why he thought it was necessary to oust his long-time partner and former co-CEO. After stepping down from day-to-day management in December 2018, Wu returned Tuesday as chairman of the company and executive director of the Beijing Bitmain subsidiary.

According to Wu, he and three other founding members of Bitmain tried to persuade Zhan to reach a unanimous decision on the layoffs, which Wu and others viewed as necessary for saving the company.

In the end, Zhan's second attempt failed, Wu said, but the two came to an agreement to both step down as co-CEOs and Bitmain moved ahead with the layoffs.

A Tencent News report said on Wednesday that Zhan has already started approaching lawyers in an aim to bring a lawsuit against Bitmain.

Wu and Zhan seem to have sparred over what Wu called Zhan's "Crazy" ideas - namely doubling down on the company's artificial intelligence business, which is unrelated to bitcoin mining.

"Some said inside the company, I'm the one who handles business and Zhan handles technology. I want to ask, between Zhan and I, who really has a love for the technology? Zhan doesn't love technology, he loves that feeling of fulfilling his endless desire for power. He doesn't love technology, he loves vanity. Folks, we have no options but to keep Zhan away from this company."

The report added that on Oct. 28, one day before Wu's email, Zhan was still attending a conference in Shenzhen on behalf of Bitmain to promote its AI products.