Wu Jihan: An 8-Year Blockchain Legend From Investment Analyst to Billionaire Status

In just eight years, from starting with nothing to becoming a billionaire and landing on the rich list, Wu Jihan’s success story is a legendary tale in the blockchain industry. The entrepreneur, famous for founding Bitmain, not only shaped the global mining hardware industry but also became a controversial figure due to a series of key decisions. What exactly enabled Wu Jihan to step into the center of power in the rapidly evolving blockchain world?

Academic Background Shapes Investment Thinking

Born in Chongqing in 1986, Wu Jihan graduated from Nankai Middle School in Chongqing before entering Peking University’s School of Economics in 2005. This “kid from a good family” was not only proficient in economics but also earned dual degrees in Economics and Psychology from Peking University in 2009—an uncommon academic background in China at the time.

During university, Wu Jihan voraciously read works on monetary theory, idolizing Warren Buffett. He loved the futuristic film “The Matrix” and was also fond of financial classics like “Roger’s Global Investment Tour.” These cultural tastes and knowledge accumulation laid the groundwork for his later success across finance and technology.

The First Major Turning Point in Venture Capital Career

After graduating from Peking University in 2009, Wu Jihan smoothly entered the investment industry, working as a venture capital analyst and later as an investment manager. In 2011, when he first encountered Bitcoin, his professional VC background kept him from blindly following trends; instead, he calmly analyzed the technical logic and economic model behind BTC.

After careful research, this investment professional made a bold decision—to invest 100,000 RMB to buy 900 Bitcoin in one go. This investment ultimately opened the door to his entrepreneurial journey. Two years later, when BTC’s price soared to $750, those 900 coins had appreciated to 675,000 RMB, becoming Wu Jihan’s initial startup capital.

Bitbit and White Paper Translation: Establishing the Evangelist Identity

In 2013, Wu Jihan met Chang Jian, an engineer from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The two like-minded young men decided to co-found a project—Bitbit, the first Bitcoin discussion forum in Chinese on the internet. This platform later became a key hub for the Chinese cryptocurrency community.

At the same time, Wu Jihan completed a crucial task for the Chinese Bitcoin community: translating Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper, “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.” Although early Bitcoin pioneers like Li Xiaolai had translated versions, Wu Jihan’s translation was known for its accuracy and readability, making it the most widely circulated Chinese version to date. This earned him titles such as “Bitcoin Evangelist” and “Satoshi’s Follower,” establishing him as an authoritative voice in the Chinese Bitcoin community.

The Rise of Bitmain: From Mining Hardware to Mining Empire

As Bitcoin’s popularity surged, the mining hardware business revealed huge opportunities. Wu Jihan keenly realized that whoever controlled the development of mining chips would hold the key to power in the Bitcoin world. In 2013, he co-founded Bitmain with Zhang Jihan, an engineer from the Chinese Academy of Sciences with a background in integrated circuit design. The company focused on designing high-speed, low-power custom chips for blockchain and AI applications.

In November 2013, Bitmain launched its first Antminer S1. Successive models—S2, S3, S5, S7—continued to evolve, and Wu Jihan and Zhang Jihan successfully built Bitmain into the world’s largest manufacturer of mining hardware. The company expanded its business scope to include Antpool, BTC.com, and other mining pools, maintaining close collaborations with pools like BTC.top and ViaBTC.

By 2017, Bitmain’s revenue reached approximately $2.5 billion (about 15.8 billion RMB), and Wu Jihan was named one of the top ten most influential figures in blockchain by Coindesk.

The Block Size Debate and the BCH Hard Fork Controversy

On May 19, 2017, Bitcoin’s price broke through $2,000 (now around $68,350), and on-chain transaction volume surged, causing severe network congestion. Wu Jihan believed that blockchain needed to scale, but the Bitcoin Core development team advocated for maintaining the 1MB block size limit and building second-layer solutions off-chain.

The disagreement could not be resolved. Wu Jihan decided to hard fork—he backed up the entire original Bitcoin chain data and increased the block size limit from 1MB to 8MB, theoretically boosting network efficiency eightfold.

On August 1, 2017, ViaBTC, a mining pool invested in by Bitmain, announced the completion of the hard fork, and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) was officially born. Antpool immediately enabled mining options for both BTC and BCH, and a large portion of hash power shifted from Bitcoin to BCH. While most Bitcoin community members supported scaling, they could not tolerate actions that might split Bitcoin’s chain, leading Wu Jihan to be branded as a “breaker” by some BTC enthusiasts.

Ironically, BCH’s current trading price is around $467.38, somewhat lower than its peak, but its existence itself demonstrates Wu Jihan’s market insight at the time.

Internal Rift: The Turning Point for Bitmain

Starting in late 2018, as the cryptocurrency market plummeted and competitors flooded in, Bitmain’s core mining hardware business suffered heavy blows. More critically, internal conflicts arose: Wu Jihan and Zhang Jihan had fundamental disagreements over the company’s strategic direction. Wu Jihan, with a background in investment, favored focusing on finance and blockchain services, while Zhang Jihan, with a technical background, wanted to shift focus toward AI chip development.

By 2019, these differences escalated into a fierce power struggle. Wu Jihan publicly stated that the company faced a funding gap of $300 million, and the two sides engaged in a months-long internal conflict involving board dismissals, license disputes, and lawsuits. This internal war caused significant negative impacts on Bitmain and led to large-scale layoffs.

After a prolonged struggle, they finally reached a reconciliation. Wu Jihan wrote in a public letter that he had enjoyed 2,815 days at Bitmain and expressed gratitude for the team’s support.

Spin-off and Rebirth: The Listing of Bitdeer

In January 2021, Wu Jihan officially resigned as CEO and Chairman of Bitmain, and the company announced a spin-off. The mining hardware sharing business Bitdeer and overseas mining farms were separated from Bitmain. Wu Jihan founded Bitdeer Group and became its chairman. Zhang Jihan, meanwhile, acquired a $600 million stake, including shares held by Wu Jihan and other founders, and continued to lead Bitmain’s AI chip business.

Notably, Wu Jihan’s Bitdeer successfully went public on NASDAQ on April 14, 2023, with a valuation of about $870 million. This marked that, despite parting ways with Bitmain, Wu Jihan’s influence in blockchain infrastructure remains significant.

However, Bitmain’s main business has lost some of its former glory—after internal conflicts, it has struggled to reclaim its dominance in mining.

Industry Influence Amid Controversy

Opinions on Wu Jihan vary depending on perspective. Compared to seasoned figures like Li Xiaolai or the more polished Sun Yuchen, Wu Jihan, who is less skilled at media manipulation, resembles a protagonist from a web novel—gifted, determined, but sometimes stubborn to the point of obsession.

Because BCH drew away much of Bitcoin’s hash power, Wu Jihan faced much criticism in the Bitcoin community. Media outlets like Coindesk have called him a “villain,” and the Bitcoin community has labeled him a “traitor to Satoshi” and used terms like “JIHAD.” Behind these judgments lies Wu Jihan’s personality—unyielding and resilient at critical moments.

From starting from scratch to building a mining empire, then spinning off and listing again, Wu Jihan’s entrepreneurial journey is filled with risks and opportunities. Although he bears a reputation for BCH, he has undeniably provided efficient mining hardware to miners worldwide, greatly improving mining efficiency; his continuous advocacy for blockchain theory has also propelled industry development and understanding.

His experiences and achievements compel us to reevaluate this controversial leader in the blockchain industry.