Bitmain, a pioneer in Bitcoin mining hardware, holds a dominant share of the global hashrate and also supplies chips used in NVIDIA H100-based AI data centers. In December 2025, industry veteran Chandler Guo posted a message hinting at a “deep-sea fishing” ordeal, triggering intense speculation about a multi-billion-dollar incident and a prolonged detention in China. Observers linked Guo’s tale to broader tensions within the company, suggesting leadership instability could ripple through the crypto mining market.
The company’s dual-CEO structure collapsed in 2025, with co-founders Zhan and Wu leading the firm in different strategic directions. Wu, a Beijing University graduate, is said to have focused on strategic partnerships and business development, while Zhan, associated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, emphasized chip design and production. The absence of one founder has left an operational vacuum that could affect Bitmain’s ability to steer a complex global operation.
Regulatory pressure is mounting as Bitmain and related entities relocate their headquarters to the United States to optimize supply chains and avoid tariffs. The mining infrastructure Bitmain operates spans both crypto and AI data center use cases, fueling national-security concerns among policymakers. With investigations into hardware security threats and ongoing enforcement actions, the sector remains vigilant about potential shocks to the mining hardware market and its supply chain.
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