Jihan Wu
Jihan Wu | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth year and age Chongqing, China |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Known for | Co-founder of Bitmain, advocate for Bitcoin Cash |
Jihan Wu (; born 1986) is a billionaire entrepreneur in the cryptocurrency sector, originally from China and now a Singaporean citizen. In 2013, he co-established Bitmain alongside Micree Zhan, which evolved into the largest global manufacturer of computer chips dedicated to bitcoin mining, achieving revenues of US$2.5 billion in 2017. Wu is a notable advocate for Bitcoin Cash, a bitcoin hard fork introduced in 2017 to enhance transaction throughput. Forbes included him among Asia's five youngest billionaires in their 2020 World’s Billionaires List. Additionally, Wu holds ownership of Le Freeport.
Early life and career
Wu was born in 1986 in Chongqing, China, and completed dual degrees in economics and psychology at Peking University in 2009. Following graduation, he took on the role of financial analyst at a private equity firm. In May 2011, Wu encountered Bitcoin and secured 100,000 yuan (around US$15,373 at that time) from relatives and acquaintances to purchase 900 bitcoins. He co-founded Babite (巴比特), recognized as China’s pioneering Bitcoin community platform, and was the first individual to translate Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin white paper into Chinese.
In 2012, Wu and fellow founder Friedcat (烤猫) invested in ASICMINER, an early manufacturer of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for Bitcoin mining, which initially yielded significant profits. Friedcat later withdrew due to technical complications. Wu also faced losses from investments in mining hardware produced by Canaan Creative.
Bitmain, Bitdeer and Matrixport
In 2013, Wu collaborated with microelectronics specialist Micree Zhan to launch Bitmain. By November of that year, Zhan had engineered the Antminer S1, marking the company’s inaugural mining device. Initial sales experienced rapid growth but declined in 2014 following the fraudulent collapse of the Japanese bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox. Bitmain introduced the Antminer S5 in 2015, which became a best-selling model as bitcoin values rebounded. The company expanded to become the largest bitcoin mining chip producer worldwide, recording US$2.5 billion in revenue by 2017. By 2018, Wu held a 20% stake while Zhan owned 36% of Bitmain shares.
Wu championed raising Bitcoin's transaction capacity beyond its existing 1-megabyte block size limit—a stance met with resistance from traditional supporters. After extensive debate spanning two years, a Shenzhen-based mining firm supported by Bitmain, ViaBTC, initiated a hard fork that resulted in the creation of Bitcoin Cash in August 2017. Although Wu was accused of orchestrating the fork, he denied playing a major role.
In 2019, Wu resigned as co-CEO of Bitmain and established Matrixport, a cryptocurrency financial services company headquartered in Singapore designed to circumvent China's trading restrictions.
Wu formally exited Bitmain in 2021 after settling disagreements with Zhan. Following this departure, the cryptocurrency mining pool BTC.com and cloud service Bitdeer were spun off from Bitmain with Wu assuming chairmanship. BTC.com was eventually sold to the publicly traded firm BTCM.
In 2022, via Bitdeer, Wu purchased Le Freeport, a high-security vault facility in Singapore previously owned by Yves Bouvier, for SGD 40 million (approximately US$28.4 million).
Wealth
According to Hurun Report’s first Blockchain Rich List in 2018, Wu ranked as China’s second wealthiest cryptocurrency entrepreneur with an estimated net worth of 16.5 billion yuan (US$2.39 billion), trailing only Micree Zhan. He was also positioned as the 204th wealthiest individual across China that year. Fortune magazine placed him third on The Ledger’s 40 under 40 list for his significant contributions to finance and technology during the same period.
Personal life
As of 2024, Wu holds Singaporean citizenship and lives in Singapore.