Chinese Company Lost $23 Million Allegedly Mining Cryptocurrency in Secret

A subsidiary of Chinese firm Huatie has been sold off at 10 percent of its initial value following losses from suspected secret cryptocurrency mining activities amounting to about $23 million.

90 Percent Value Plunged Probably Due to 2018 Bear Market

According to Chinese crypto media outlet 8BTC, Huatie HengAn, a subsidiary of Huatie has been sold for $2 million. Reports indicate that the company’s value plunged by about 90 percent from an initial valuation of $25 million, all in the space of one year.

Huatie HengAn originally a construction company reportedly purchased 36,500 units of hardware listed as “servers” from Canaan and Ebang in 2018.

Given that both companies don’t sell servers but instead sell crypto mining hardware, the suspicion is that Huatie HengAn pivoted from construction to cryptocurrency mining.

Back in December 2018, Huatie’s end-of-year financial report showed losses of about $14 million for its subsidiary firm. By February 2018, the total net loss had risen to $23 million.

With the total loss just $2 million off from its initial $25 million investment into the business, it appears the parent company decided to count its losses and sell the business.

Chinese Listed Company Lost over $23 Million for Its Secret #Crypto Mining Business | https://t.co/z0jfNUUekk #GMO #Bitmain #Canaan #Ebang https://t.co/lA9P3YyKC5

— 8BTCnews (@btcinchina) April 19, 2019

If Huatie HengAn was indeed engaging in cryptocurrency mining, it would be the latest in a growing list of businesses affected by the 2018 bear market.

During the year-long bear period, the entire cryptocurrency market fell by an average of more than 80 percent across the board.

2018 – A Dreadful Year for Mining Companies

For the first half of 2018, it appeared as though mining companies were immune to the hemorrhaging prices in the cryptocurrency market. However, by Q3 2018 reports of difficult financial situations began to emerge.

Cloud mining services like Hashflare were the first to shut down citing lack of profitability. Then reports began to emerge of massive losses for mining giant Bitmain – a situation further worsened by a bet on bitcoin Cash that ultimately backfired.

The fallout from the suspected losses has seen the company downsize its workforce, firing entire departments. Bitmain has also appointed a new CEO.

Ebang, Bitmain, and Canaan abandoned plans for massive initial public offerings (IPO). GMO also incurred losses of $12 million forcing the company to shut down its mining hardware enterprise.

Even companies like Nvidia that sold hardware for miners weren’t left out as the company is reportedly trying to offload unsold inventory as demand shrunk in 2018.

Do you think Huatie HengAn was secretly mining cryptocurrencies under the guise of could computing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Images via 8BTC and Twitter (@btcinchina), Shutterstock

The Rundown

Published at Fri, 19 Apr 2019 23:00:54 +0000

July 23, 2017

Virtual Reality Business Networking on The Blockchain

Shares Per Hour, better known as SPH, takes business networking to the next level using the innovation of virtual reality (VR) and blockchain technologies.

[Note: This is a press release.]

You’re probably familiar with LinkedIn, if not, it’s a site where professionals can connect & network with each other through a website and mobile app. These current web and mobile app based services are fast becoming hard to use and outdated. SPH brings new life and excitement to the world of “Business Networking”, incorporating distributed technology that brings people closer together than ever before.

The improvements come from utilizing the three leading technologies in computer science: VR; Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. Let’s take a more in depth look at how these breakthrough technologies aid in improving coordination, leading to increased productivity and time savings for businesses and everyday life.

Virtual Reality (VR) Virtual Reality Becomes the New User Experience (UX)

Shares Per Hour demonstrates the power of a deeply immersive work space. No longer are you limited to the size of a computer screen or mobile phone. Now your entire field of vision is accessible and functional. Don’t worry about access to your legacy desktops and cell phones, you still have them right there in the virtual office space of your choice.

There’s no need to pull your cell phone out of your pocket, instead, you can instantly see your phone’s screen and resize it however you like in futuristic holographic representations right in virtual reality. The same goes with your desktop screen and even your team members computer screens. Instantly teleport over to your co-worker’s office to collaborate, even at the virtual beach.

SPH expands much further into the VR immersive user experience but we will first explain the foundation that Virtual Reality will sit on, distributed ledger blockchain technology.

Blockchain Allows SPH to Progress Past a Simple Business Networking Project

The blockchain enables smart contracts to be created between parties. After negotiating a deal in the virtual world, users can close the deal with a “virtual hand shake” backed up by a smart contract running on the blockchain. Secure “per hour” payment plans can be set up in place between users.

User studies have shown “per hour” deals are the quickest to close and begin, Workers actually receive payment every hour, in real time, which aids in the workers’ confidence. Employers are protected through the collaborative UX and the reputation system. We will talk more about this in the artificial intelligence section.

Artificial/Virtual Intelligence (AI/VI)

A great thing about the blockchain is the ability to source it for data, collecting and analyzing this public data for future use. Sourcing data is key to creating a useful AI. A top SPH feature using AI is the VR hiring agent or what some people might call a VR head hunter. This is where users go through a more personal and immersive experience describing themselves and their ambitions to a virtual hiring agent who can aid in determining where they best fit into the digital work force.

The same process happens with employers. In the end, AI/VI algorithms are used to match employees and employers together and schedule interviews. AI is not used to do smart contracts between users. Users interact with each other in the virtual world and come to agreements. AI is used to save time and the human interaction is used to make final confirmations on business networking agreements.

For More Information

If you would like to learn more about SPH, visit the official website: https://SharesPerHour.com.

Read the in depth technical blackpaper or view the friendlier overview and demo videos. The ICO token sale is currently under way. It’s free to join the website. We strongly recommend joining the website since registration for the website will close 72 hours prior to the end of the ICO. Only previously registered members will be allowed to participate in the ICO during the last 72 hours.

Images courtesy of Shares Per Hour

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