Micree Zhan recruits security guards to storm Bitmain office

Bitmain’s ousted co-founder Micree Zhan has attempted to regain control of the ASIC manufacturer’s office in Beijing with the help of more than five security guards.

Breaking: June 3, Micree Zhan led a team of Bao Ans (private guards) crashed Bitmain Beijing office and tried to take back the control.

June 4, Micree wrote an open letter to apologize for the troubles and promise IPO and $50B-market-value ASAP.

Link: https://t.co/RL6XRICx4z pic.twitter.com/XFw2Xu9VnR

— BlockBeats｜We're hiring! (@BlockBeatsAsia) June 4, 2020

Although the video that shows Zhan entering the office looks peaceful, some say that Zhan reclaimed the office using “brute force”

😂😂😂OH MAN the #BitMainDrama this video is verified by @BlockBeatsChina

Micree today led a team of private guards crashed Bitmain Beijing office … they broke in by brute force and tried to take back the control (after Jihan’s initial coup and series of outrageous behavior) pic.twitter.com/wkpKJ8Nr8H

— Dovey "Rug the fiat" Wan (hiring) (@DoveyWan) June 4, 2020

As seen on the video, Zhan brought security guards with him because the last encounter he had with Bitmain employees ended in a physical altercation. On May 8, Zhan went to a government office in Beijing to pick up the license that re-established him as the legal representative of Bitmain. However, at the government office, he was met with physical force from Bitmain CFO Luyao Liu and several others that Liu had brought with him.

The whole story (Jesus I still can’t believe 😂😂😂😂

In the morning, Micree was at the Industry and Commerce Bureau of Beijing office, to get his Beijing Bitmain corp license, which he is the legal representative of

LIU and ten others literally “robbed” it right on the spot pic.twitter.com/mylc9JRuYP

— Dovey "Rug the fiat" Wan (hiring) (@DoveyWan) May 8, 2020

Liu’s group allegedly tried to physically take Zhan’s license out of his hands. According to Chinese Law, the legal representative of a company has complete power and authority of a company, it’s capital, and it’s assets.

Because Zhan was ousted from Bitmain in October 2019, it is no surprise that executive-level Bitmain employees were unhappy to see the court overturn a decision that removed Zhan as the legal representative and assigned the role to Liu. This may have driven Liu and others to go to the government office on May 8th and try to prevent Zhan from obtaining the license.

Regardless of his past encounters and ongoing legal battle with Bitmain, Zhan was able to successfully enter and regain control of Bitmain’s Beijing office on June 3.

Zhan sends letter to shareholders and employees

On June 4, the day after Zhan regained control of—and reopened—the Bitmain Beijing office, Zhan wrote a letter to the company’s shareholders and employees. 

The letter encouraged employees to return to the Beijing office for work, and apologized to shareholders for all of the company turmoil Bitmain has experienced since October 2019. Due to coronavirus pandemic, employees that would otherwise be working in the Beijing office had been working from home.

In his letter, Zhan said he would lead Bitmain to the IPO they have been attempting to conduct for quite some time now and help the company reach a market value of more than $50 billion in three to five years. Sounds like wishful thinking.