Bitmain Co-CEOs to Keep Decision Making Power in Executive Swap, Report
giant co-founders and Micree Zhan Ketuan will quit their posts as co-CEOs but still steer the company’s important decisions. Hong Kong-based English-language news outlet South China Morning Post the news Jan. 10.
Referencing anonymous “people familiar with the matter,” the publication said Bitmain’s director of product engineering Wang Haichao would likely take over as CEO at an unspecified future date. Haichao has allegedly already taken over some of the duo’s former duties.
The reshuffle, which Bitmain declined to formally confirm, follows several weeks of rumors about changes at senior executive level.
Without quoting the sources specifically, the Post added that Wu and Zhan would subsequently become co-chairs of the company.
“After Wang takes over, Wu and Zhan will move away from the company’s day-to-day business activities but will still make final calls on big decisions,” one of the sources reportedly confirmed.
As Cointelegraph , Chinese media first published rumors of Wu’s repositioning in late December. A month before, other rumors Wu had lost his decision-making power altogether.
Bitmain is facing a major transition period at the start of 2019. Having its operations in last month, commentators expect the company to announce of staff in the near future.
Plans to conduct an initial public offering () in have also , possibly due to regulators’ apprehension at ongoing volatility in markets.
Crypto New Media Crypto in 2018 — Reviewing the year – Helixx Labs – Medium Crypto New Media Press 2018 has been a volatile year for cryptocurrencies, where the year started with extreme euphoria followed by a […]
bitcoin transaction IDs (TXIDs) uniquely identify each transaction on the blockchain. This hash-based code lets users verify, trace, and reference specific transfers securely.
After previously slamming bitcoin and other digital currencies as “not real”, “fad”, and “a pyramid scheme”, billionaire traditional investor Howard Marks made a spectacular U-turn on his views on the new financial technology in his latest memo to Oaktree Clients.
Howard Marks’ 180 Degree Turn
In his July memo, Howard Marks explored the world of cryptocurrencies and leveled heavyat them. However, after receiving significant backlash from various media outlets for his ‘dinosaur’ views and lack of understanding of the new financial technology, Marks decided to revisit the topic to get ‘enlightened’ and ‘educated’ on the subject. In his , he claims that bitcoin partisans encouraged him to think of bitcoin as a currency – a medium of exchange – rather than as an investment asset.
The billionaire investor acknowledged his ‘mistake’ as he had been looking at bitcoin the wrong way, and humbly conceded that much of the arguments he made against the cryptocurrency were applicable to the dollar as well. Marks subsequently made the case for qualifying bitcoin as a currency and concluded that although he sees no reason why bitcoin can’t serve as a currency and “become an accepted medium of exchange”, he warned against getting caught up in the hype and buying it with the sole view of making money off it.
1/ Marks received more feedback from his July memo than any other memo he published over the last 28 yrs.
bitcoin’s volatility, which has seen it rise over 350% in 2017 alone, , who was quick to point out that the lack of an upper ceiling for bitcoin which sees limitless appreciation fails to make sense to him. He asks, “Would you sell your house for euros that are said to be worth two or three times as much as the dollar?”
Although this represents a risk averse and extremely conservative outlook, it does provoke thoughts pertaining to long term stability of currencies. Marks also shares his other major concern, that the low barriers to entry give rise to many competing transaction systems. Would bitcoin’s utility as a payment mechanism be hampered if Amazon announced its own? He asks, “Would you rather transact in bitcoin or Amazonians?”
shouldn't turn to – it's ineffective &too volatile. Instead, adopt or .
In the new memo, Marks makes it clear that he advocates for bitcoin as a currency and warns against “lottery-ticket thinking”, which seduces people towards the cryptocurrency as it offers the possibility of vast wealth. Although some elements or “seeds for a boom” that contributed to past historical economic bubbles are evident in , Marks emphatically makes it known that none of them make bitcoin a ‘mistake’. He also that with the existence of tons of cryptocurrencies and the possibility of endless more, the winner will be hard to call.
As evidenced by the hundreds of e-commerce start ups during the tech bubble, most of which ended up worthless, putting all your eggs in one basket might not be the wisest thing to do. Although Marks said that he still considers it a speculative bubble and therefore still doesn’t “feel like putting my money into it”, he also said that he was “willing to be proved wrong.” For such a juggernaut in the field of traditional financial investing, this is as close as anyone can get to singing the praises of the very technology that might be the cause of their own downfall.
Howard Marks is coming around on bitcoin, but says "I still don’t feel like putting my money into it."
What do you think of Howard Marks’ new memo and shift in position on bitcoin? Do you agree with his bottom line? How would you respond to his apprehensions? Let us know in the comments below.
