Bitcoin mining machine manufacturer Ebang responded urgently to the investigation of the whistleblower, and the stock price of the whistleblower fell by more than 9%

This is a turbulent time in the mining industry.

The industry leader Bitmain is still in internal strife, the industry's second-largest Canaan Technology (Nasdaq: CAN) stock price plummeted after its listing, and the founder of the rising star Shenma Mining Machine, Yang Zuoxing, was arrested by the Shenzhen Procuratorate on suspicion of occupational embezzlement. Now, the industry's third-largest Yibang is under investigation by the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

On the evening of December 19, Zhongying Internet Technology Co., Ltd. (Zhongying Internet, 002464.SZ) issued an announcement stating that the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau has filed an investigation into the suspected contract fraud case of Zhejiang Yibang Communication Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhejiang Yibang") and Yunnan Yibang Information Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yunnan Yibang"), and the case is still under investigation. The industrial and commercial information platform Tianyancha shows that Zhejiang Yibang is the 100% controlling shareholder of Yunnan Yibang.

Zhejiang Yibang and Yunnan Yibang immediately issued an "Emergency Statement" on the "Yibit Customer Service Number" (the mining machine produced by Yibang is called Yibit), saying that Zhongying Internet and its wholly-owned subsidiary Beijing Xincailiang Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Cailiang Technology") maliciously reported to the public security department. The motive is nothing more than an attempt to interfere with the civil litigation process on the grounds of criminal cases, evade the severe accountability of the regulatory authorities, and confuse the public.

The "Emergency Statement" also stated that Zhejiang Yibang and Yunnan Yibang have provided relevant materials of this case as required by the Beijing Chaoyang Public Security Bureau. No personnel have been taken away for investigation. Currently, production and operations and personnel are stable and have not been adversely affected by this incident.

The reporter of The Paper called Zhongying Internet regarding the "Emergency Statement" issued by Yibang, and the staff responded: "The case has been filed, and the result of the case filing will be the basis. The result will be further announced later."

A contract dispute case lasting one and a half years

What exactly happened between Zhongying Internet and Yibang?

According to the "Emergency Statement", in March 2018, Zhongying Internet's subsidiary Cailiang Technology purchased 100,000 cloud computing servers from Zhejiang Yibang and Yunnan Yibang (90,000 from Zhejiang Yibang and 10,000 from Yunnan Yibang), with a total payment of 504 million yuan.

The disagreement between the two parties lies in the delivery situation: Yibang said that it had delivered all 100,000 cloud computing servers to the designated personnel of Cailiang Technology in May 2018. However, Cailiang Technology said that it only received 65,000 units, and 35,000 units had not yet been delivered.

According to Yibang, as of November 30, 2018, Cailiang Technology still owed Zhejiang Yibang 0.736 billion yuan and Yunnan Yibang 0.404 billion yuan, totaling 114 million yuan.

After many unsuccessful negotiations between the two parties, Zhejiang Yibang and Yunnan Yibang appealed to the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court and the Baoshan Intermediate People's Court, Yunnan, respectively. Currently, the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court has held the first trial on November 26 and is still awaiting the verdict. The Baoshan Intermediate People's Court of Yunnan Province issued a ruling on October 18 to suspend the trial and continue the trial after the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court makes a verdict.

The "Emergency Statement" stated that recently, Yunnan Yibang and Zhejiang Yibang reported that Cailiang Technology's parent company Zhongying Internet, as a listed company, had serious misrepresentations in information disclosure and was suspected of violating laws and regulations, and the reporting materials have been accepted in accordance with the law.

In this context, Cailiang Technology submitted a criminal report to the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. Zhongying Internet announced on December 19 that after an in-depth investigation of the sales contract disputes with Zhejiang Yibang and Yunnan Yibang, Cailiang Technology found that the sales contract disputes between Zhejiang Yibang, Yunnan Yibang and Cailiang Technology were suspected of contract fraud. After collecting evidence, Cailiang Technology submitted a criminal report to the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. The Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau issued a "Case Acceptance Receipt" on October 18, 2019. Cailiang Technology and Yingzhong Internet recently received the "Notice of Filing" issued by the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. The Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau has filed a case for investigation into the suspected contract fraud of Zhejiang Yibang and Yunnan Yibang, and the case is still under investigation.

As of the close of December 19, Zhongying Internet’s stock price fell 9.05%.

The listing dilemma faced by Ebang International

As one of the three major mining machine manufacturers, Yibang has not had a smooth journey.

At the end of June 2018, Ebang International submitted an application for listing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, but failed. The reason for this was that on November 1, 2018, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission issued a new regulatory notice, announcing stricter terms such as funds with more than 10% of their assets in virtual assets can only be sold to professional investors, and any funds and brokerage institutions investing in virtual assets must register with the Securities and Futures Commission. On the other hand, Ebang International was involved in a dispute with the P2P online loan "Yindou.com" involving a 4.4 billion yuan black money dispute.

On December 20, 2018, Yibang International applied for listing for the second time, but information disclosed by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on June 21, 2019 showed that it is currently invalid again.

Technology media Techweb cited a report from IFR ASIA in June that Bitcoin mining machine manufacturer Ebang International is considering listing in the US market after failing to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the second time. (This article comes from The Paper