Bitmain fires up to 85% of its workforce

According to a leaked financial document that surfaced in August this year, Bitmain currently holds 930,932 LTC (~$28.6m), 1,021,316 BCH (~$176.7m), 22,082 BTC (~$83.3m), 312,424 DASH (~$26m), and 1,097 ETH (~$142k) tokens. At press time, the fiat-equivalent of Bitmain’s entire portfolio amounts to be approximately $315.5 million.

Whether or not Bitmain has already cashed out some part of its crypto portfolio could not be found. But given all the recent financial difficulties they are reported to be facing, it would make sense to liquidate some of those holdings and reduce overheads.

The fact that the Chinese crypto mining holds a large number of digital currency reserves itself leads to a possible selling scenario. That, of course, is possible only when Bitmain feels itself running out of cash despite firing half of its workforce.

Is Bitcoin Under Selling Pressure?

Bitmain, like any other retail investors in the crypto space, would be less likely to dump its Bitcoin reserves, mainly because it is among the few crypto assets that are looking at a promising future as the new year kicks in.

The same could be told about Bitcoin Cash, which Bitmain whole-heartedly supported during the November “hash war.” But since the firing of Bitcoin Cash development squad, the probability of Bitmain holding its Bitcoin Cash reserves looks meager.

Then again, layoffs itself are a kind of a bullish indicator — a company practices downsizing when it wants to govern its spending against its revenue. Bitmain, like any other crypto company, launched new products while driven the crypto euphoria of late 2017. But as the demand evaporated for its line of products – crypto-mining chips in particular – the company had to re-strategize its priorities in hopes to survive the crypto’s most depressive phase.

What’s Next?

Bitmain could also choose to look for additional capital without spending many brains on selling their crypto reserves. The firm has already shared its plans to go public via a $12 billion IPO round in Hong Kong. Just recently, its application to the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) met the possibilities of rejection. The company could file another IPO prospectus in the future after fixing its infrastructure, beginning with a layoff that is already taking place.

Bitmain raised $400 million from a pre-IPO funding round led by Sequoia Capital. The company currently holds a 67% share in the market for bitcoin mining equipment, and it provides about 60% of the mining industry’s entire computing power.

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