Bitmain co-founder announces sale of 5nm-chip miners

One of Bitmain’s co-founders, Micree Zhang, announced the launch of miners based on 5-nanometer chips. The first shipment is scheduled for January 2021 with 100% upfront payment.

Exclusive:Bitmain’s Micree is selling the world’s first 5nm chip mining machine to Chinese miners, which requires advance payment and will be shipped in January next year, but the miners are afraid to buy it. Mircee is suspected of selling some problematic chips. pic.twitter.com/KmF5VdrfbD

— Colin Wu（WuBlockchain） (@WuBlockchain) September 9, 2020

As WuBlockchain notes, some miners are wary of buying the new devices due to potentially problematic chips.

“While the energy-efficiency metric can reach 25-30 J/T, serious problems are possible. Production capabilities cannot be guaranteed,” the post states.

These concerns are corroborated by Bitmain’s second co-founder Jihan Wu. Through the company’s official account on WeChat, he stated that the 5nm chips are test samples.

Wu believes Zhang is trying to shore up his finances at users’ expense. According to the co-founder, there are no plans to bring the 5nm chips to market at present.

The feud between Bitmain co-founders Micree Zhang and Jihan Wu intensified last autumn. Then Wu, with shareholder support, ousted Zhang from all posts within the company.

After the first failed attempt to regain control of Bitmain in December last year, Zhang gradually managed to do so with respect to the company’s key business units.

In late June, media reported that the co-founders discussed resolving the conflict but did not reach a compromise on all disputed issues.

Earlier, Zhang promised to take Bitmain public within a year and accused Jihan Wu of stealing 10,000 Bitcoin miners.

In September, Marathon agreed with Bitmain to purchase 10,500 Antminer S19 Pro for $23 million. This would allow the company to raise its total hashrate to 1.55 EH/s and become one of the largest miners in North America.

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