Media reports on Bitmain’s financial problems

Bitmain, the world’s largest maker of mining equipment, partially withheld salaries from all employees in September, according to journalist Colin Wu.

Exclusive: Bitmain, the largest Bitcoin mining machine manufacturer, issued a notice on October 3 that since the company’s operating cash flow has not yet turned positive in September, it has decided to suspend the payment of part of the salary of all employees in September.… pic.twitter.com/B4h4sWvQQS

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 8, 2023

In an internal memo, the company cited that cash flow for the month did not turn positive.

As of October 7, the firm said it had settled most of the debt; according to Bitmain, only ‘some people’ did not receive full payments.

In the end of September, the company held the World Digital Mining Summit conference in Hong Kong and released a new flagship for Bitcoin mining, Antminer S21, the reporter noted.

During the event, the manufacturer signed an agreement on investments in Core Scientific as part of the supply of 27,000 units of Antminer S19j XP. The American mining company will pay for the batch of equipment $23.1 million in cash and $53.9 million in common stock.

In October, it became known that Iris Energy will acquire from Bitmain 7,000 Antminer S21 units for $19.6 million. The contract price of the miners, translated into hash rate, turned out to be below the market rate, according to Hashrate Index.

In August, Bitmain offered buyers of the S19j XP a safeguard mechanism that provides financial compensation for declines in Bitcoin prices.