In an Aug. 9 blog post, Bitmain states that it came across a fraudulent use of its brand in the sale of a product dubbed “Bitmain Cloud Miner” and in the promotion of Mangocoin. The fraudsters allegedly masqueraded as Bitmain and promoted the products on their website, application and software.
Cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturer Bitmain has accused a cryptocurrency project of falsely using its name in the promotion of a product dubbed Mangocoin (MNG).
Bitmain thus warned the public that Mangocoin and its social media accounts, website, application and dedicated groups in messenger apps are not the company’s business channels or platforms, noting that Bitmain does not stand behind MNG as its developer.
The company further says that it has taken legal action in order to protect itself and its users’ rights, adding:
“We would like to remind our existing and potential customers to correctly identify the service provider when purchasing products, to sign up for or purchase anything online only after careful deliberation and stay alert to misleading promotions, illegal fund-raising, fraud and other malicious activities on the internet.”
As reported in late July, cyber criminals had been sending scam emails claiming to be from the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority and promoting crypto assets investments.
In January, Japanese online broker Monex Group, the owner of hacked cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck, warned of a new scam claiming to be related to its business. The scam, about which only brief details have been released, involved potential victims receiving calls from an entity dubbed “Monex Coin Management.”
Bitmain Responds to Layoff Rumors From Ousted Co-Founder Zahn
Ousted Bitmain co-founder Micree Zahn took to Weibo on Monday to speak out against a reported Bitmain “personnel optimization plan” which could purportedly see around 500 Bitmain workers dismissed by January 17. Chinese media broke the story last week citing inside sources at the bitcoin mining colossus, one of which claimed poor financial performance of the company’s AI arm was part of the reason for the winter slimming. Zahn maintains the reported plan is unreasonable, but Bitmain’s official response neither confirms nor denies the downsizing.
Reported Dismissals
The reported layoffs, which would see about half of Bitmain’s staff out of work for the winter, are speculated to be resultant of the approaching bitcoin halving and also poor performance of the AI end of the company, where Zahn is said to have put much of his focus after co-founder Jihan Wu stepped down from his post early last year. In October, Wu famously returned and had Zahn removed. In his Weibo post Zahn maintains:
Compared to Bitmain’s profit, this cost is not large. Taking a step back, even if the profit is difficult, the company’s current capital and asset reserves, the annual expenditure of 500 million Yuan will be fully affordable.
The 500 million number is a figure Zahn uses hypothetically, estimating that each employee to be cut earns 1 million yuan (~$144,000) a year, and that the company can afford the cost.
Zahn: “To all employees of Bitmain: I am firmly opposed to layoffs! We don’t need to lay off people!” The last part of the title refers to the action as being “suicidal.”
Bitmain Responds
News.bitcoin.com reached out to Bitmain regarding the reported layoffs, and Head of PR Community Relations at the company Nishant Sharma clarified:
Depending on market conditions and business developments, we continue to make adjustments to our staff. As a result, we also are continuously on the lookout for new talent and welcome applicants from all walks of life.
Commenters on Zahn’s public notice also shared their thoughts, with one user remarking to favorable reactions that “Optimizing people can reduce the company’s operating costs, allowing some employees who want to be idle to leave quickly, and at the same time increase the pressure of each department, so that work efficiency is faster and the output is more obvious. I think Wu Jihan did this right. Those shareholders agree.”
Another added: “Now for Bitmain, it is necessary to increase the research and development of mining machinery … Wait until you become the leader in this industry, and then start to invest in the second sector, such as AI and other money-burning industries.”
