A few extra stories about Canaan Technology's Zhang Nangeng

Author: Super Jun

The article "Zhang Nangeng, from dropping out of school to Nasdaq | Super Jun" pushed the day before yesterday has been screened again today, probably because the listing date is approaching, as the first blockchain stock, everyone is very excited. There was even a marketing staff of a US stock securities company in the background who contacted me and asked me to accept their advertisement, saying that if you buy Canaan Creative, you will be listed on a certain App. However, I was uneasy and rejected them. After all, we have been working hard and going public in various ways, just to let your mainstream stock market funds flow into our blockchain circle. How can we help you advertise and divert the funds of the currency circle to the stock market? An inch of loyalty, the sun and the moon can witness it, a song of loyalty resounds in my chest.

Lao Mao came to Shenzhen in the afternoon, and I went to Futian to have afternoon tea with him and chat about life and the industry. On the subway on the way back, the big guy (the source I had always wanted to interview) finally called me after a long time. He finished his work and spoke to me on the phone, telling me a few stories.

"Ngzhang is a kind and honest person."

The boss continued,

“I supported him throughout.”

The computing power of the Bitcoin network has been the most concentrated and most vulnerable to attack only twice. The first time was Satoshi Nakamoto in January-February 2009, when he controlled 80-100% of the computing power of the entire network; the second time was Zhang Nangeng in February-March 2013, when the computing power of his 300 Avalon machines was equal to 80% of the computing power of the entire network. Mo Yiyi also said in a message, "At that time, one mining machine was equivalent to the computing power of four shelves of graphics cards (about 180 ATI 5850). I knew that a new era had arrived."

But he did not hesitate and quickly dispersed the mining machines around the world. He had no intention of becoming a mining tyrant. In the process of dispersing Bitcoin computing power and making the Bitcoin network more robust, Zhang Nangeng, Kaomao and A Biao, who opened the source code of the mining pool, have all made great contributions and are worth remembering in future history books.

In 2014, ngzhang (Zhang Nangeng) opened a Weibo account. One day, at a very sensitive moment, a high-profile publicity event appeared in the circle. It was too high-profile, so he quietly reminded everyone on Weibo, "Don't be too arrogant. Don't think that the current network is so strong. If there are several hundred million yuan, it can still be 51 attacked." At this moment, I think of Satoshi Nakamoto, who did not approve of Assange's WikiLeaks using Bitcoin as a donation channel. He was on the same path. Don't challenge the power of ignorance before you are strong enough to resist it.

Bitcoin is so successful now, but it is not born like this. It is inseparable from the efforts of waves of people with lofty ideals, or based on interests, or both. Although Bitcoin will still operate without any one person, everyone who has contributed to Bitcoin deserves admiration.

Back to Avalon, in addition to ngzhang, Guo Yifu was also the first person to be known in the community. The latter was mainly responsible for the specific matters of mining machine sales, but he had been in the United States for a long time, which made communication very inconvenient for Chinese miners, the largest market for mining machines. Later, I met Guo Yifu once, probably in 2016, when Wu Jihan organized a meeting in Beijing for dialogue between Bitcoin developers and the community. Guo was responsible for the bridge of communication between the two. He was very young and a liberal.

The second half of 2015 was the most difficult time for Avalon. During this year, Avalon's mining machines were far surpassed by Ant. Guo Yifu, who was previously responsible for mining machine sales, had left the team. Zhang Nangeng distributed the remaining shares to his partners Li Jiaxuan and Liu Xiangfu, and persevered. At the same time, he needed to find a new sales team and digest the remaining mining machine inventory.

At this time, Zhang Nangeng even agreed to the proposal of giving away shares to big customers who bought mining machines. My friends xk and yzy were the top five customers of Avalon. They were the main force in digesting the mining machine inventory and supporting the research and development of the new Avalon. As for the issue of giving away shares, yzy said at the last minute, forget it, the shares are for you. I don't think it was because of generosity, but most likely because he couldn't see the future of Avalon at that time. So, the others didn't ask for shares.

At this time, Forester from Hangzhou took a fancy to Avalon. It was rumored that Forester was a member of the Zhejiang Provincial Swimming Team, and later went into business and was quite capable. At that time, Forester sold a house to raise money and brought in Kong Jianping. Kong Jianping then recommended the Third Institute of the Changchun Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Together, they invested 20 million yuan and bought shares in Avalon, establishing the Hangzhou company. The Hangzhou company began to take charge of all sales work of Avalon, and was particularly outstanding. It used various marketing methods, such as loaning money to sell mining machines, assisting in the construction of mines, etc., which were very effective. (Teacher Forester is also in my circle of friends. I am sorry to verify it. If there is any mistake, please don’t hit me.)

After several setbacks, Canaan Creative is finally going public this time. It can be said that it is the right time, right place and right people. In the mining machine world, there are also the Southern Emperor, the Northern Beggar, the Eastern Evil and the Western Poison, corresponding to Yang Zuoxing, Zhan Ketuan, Zhang Nangeng and Jiang Xinyu (Kaomao). However, in just one month, the world has been full of disputes. First, Zhan Ketuan put Yang Zuoxing in a lawsuit, and then Wu Jihan removed Zhan Ketuan. Kaomao teacher has disappeared for many years. Looking around the world, Zhang Nangeng is probably as lonely as Ximen Chuixue at this time. The three opponents in the past are all in the darkest moments, and only he is in the brightest moment.

As for the other two, I don’t know what Zhang Nangeng thinks. As for the missing FriedCat, he has always been sympathetic. In a recent debate on Weibo, when discussing people who have contributed to the decentralization of Bitcoin computing power, he saw that there were only him and A Biao on the list, and he quickly left a message saying that FriedCat should not be forgotten. Looking south, he probably missed the opponent and partner of the Gemini moment.

【over】