Jihan Wu is a co-founder of mining equipment maker Bitmain and the founder of Bitdeer. His companies shape the conditions under which Bitcoin is mined. Running a company does not mean running the Bitcoin network: participants verify the validity of blocks for themselves.
A bitcoin payment depends on more than software. Miners run machines that compete to add the next block of transactions, and someone has to build those machines. This is where Jihan Wu enters the story: Bitdeer’s profile dates his co-founding of Bitmain to 2013. The company develops chips and mining equipment. An ASIC is a chip built for a particular task; inside a Bitcoin miner it performs the required calculations. This is a business and manufacturing role, not authorship of Bitcoin or evidence that Wu personally designed every chip. [1]
When someone becomes known for founding a company, its name tends to follow them even after they leave. Wu’s story has two distinct stages. According to Bitdeer’s published history, he stepped down as co-CEO and left Bitmain in January 2021 to focus on Bitdeer. “Bitmain co-founder” still describes his past, not a current position. The move to Bitdeer takes the story from making equipment to operating it: a purchased machine needs a site, a connection, electricity and ongoing care. [2]
A Bitdeer announcement on January 29, 2024 records another change. Wu would become CEO, effective March 1, 2024, while remaining chairman of the board. Linghui Kong moved from CEO to chief business officer. The two dates do not conflict: the company announced the change before it took effect. Pinning down an event this way helps us read older news without assuming that the roles described at the time must still apply today. [3]
Wu’s name also appears at Matrixport. At this review, Bitdeer’s management profile lists him as chairman of that company too. It is easy to start treating all services associated with a well-known entrepreneur as one business. But when using a service, the particular company and contract matter. Having a leader in common does not, by itself, make the two businesses’ customer funds, obligations or possible losses part of a single company. [1]
In its March 2024 report, Bitdeer distinguished three business models. With self-mining, it mines bitcoin for its own account. Under Cloud Hash Rate, a customer subscribes to computing power and shares mining income under a contract. Hosting provides deployment, maintenance and management of equipment for customers. Imagine the same hall full of machines: its appearance cannot tell you who owns them or receives the income. Hosting is not automatically the operator’s own mining; the business arrangement determines the relationship. [4]
At March 31, 2024, Bitdeer reported 22.5 EH/s under management: 8.4 EH/s proprietary and 14.1 EH/s hosting. Hash Rate measures the speed of mining calculations; EH/s means a quintillion attempts per second. The managed total therefore included equipment operated for customers. It could not all be attributed to the company’s self-mining, much less to Wu personally. This dated, unaudited company figure serves here as an example of how to read a report. It is neither current capacity nor a share of today’s Bitcoin network. [4]
Manufacturing announcements need the same careful reading. In its December 2024 report, Bitdeer separated SEALMINER A1 machines that were powered on, delivered for installation, in transit and in production. All may matter to the company’s plans, but they are at different stages. An ASIC inside a shipping container does not yet add operating hashrate. Nor does an order or manufacturing plan establish achieved efficiency. To understand the announcement, first ask whether it describes future capacity or equipment already doing the work. [5]
An equipment maker or large datacenter operator can substantially affect machine availability and mining conditions. That does not give it the right to change everyone else’s rules. Bitcoin.org explains that nodes—computers verifying transactions and blocks—reject data that breaks the rules they enforce. If a miner awarded itself an impermissible reward, other nodes would not accept an invalid block merely because it used many ASIC devices. Wu’s story illustrates the difference between building a successful business around Bitcoin and owning the system itself. [6]
For the clearest picture, read this entry together with Roger Ver, Craig Wright, Satoshi Nakamoto. The reverse links also lead from Roger Ver, Craig Wright.