At one time, he was part of the team responsible for the rise of Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain. But when the CEOs denied their chip designer Yang Zuo Xing his own shares in the company in 2016, he left the company for independence. Two years later, he sees his start-up MicroBT on a similarly good path as his former employer. Bitmain’s technology is strong, but his own is at least equal. He faces the battle of David against Goliath.
The differences could hardly be greater: Bitmain is the world’s largest mining chip manufacturer for Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, and the value of the company is estimated at around 14 billion US dollars. Bitmain’s net profit in 2017 was about 2.5 billion euros and in the first quarter of 2018 alone, the market leader in mining technology had earned 1.1 billion US dollars according to a leaked e-mail.
To compare: MicroBT, on the other hand, only earned 186 million US dollars in 2017. But even if Bitmain is financially in a different league, this does not seem to be the case technologically:
“We can keep up with them in every area of technology. Their technology is great, but so is ours”,
said Yang Zuo Xing.
Bitmain also dominates with Bitcoin Cash
Even if the fight against the industry’s primus may seem hopeless if we look only at sales, this can change quickly with the right financial injection. MicroBT, like Bitmain, is currently fighting for future investors. This year, the Bitmain challenger has already managed to collect USD 22 million in funds. Talks with other institutional Bitcoin investors are still in progress. Just as the industry giant is planning an IPO, the smaller start-up would like to launch an IPO. In addition, MicroBT does not hold any Bitcoin Cash – unlike Bitmain, which is estimated to hold over one million Bitcoin Cash. For investors who are not convinced by the digital currency, MicroBT is an interesting alternative.
Success brings competition: Headwind against Bitmain grows
Like any successful company, Bitmain has to hold its own against the up-and-coming competition in order to reaffirm its success. The company seems to take the former employee very seriously: The mining giant had already sued him in the past for an infringement of patent law – without success. Yang Zuo Xing himself sees himself at least in a good position to challenge Bitmain – as a qualified mechatronics engineer, he has worked for many large companies and has had experience in manufacturing mining chips since 2014.
Bitmain’s strong position in the mining market is currently undisputed. However, Bitmain is still under criticism. The market leader is increasingly centralising Bitcoin mining, which makes competition desirable.
