Yang Zuoxing, CEO of Shenma Mining Machine, has been taken away by the police to assist in the investigation, possibly involving Bitmain's intellectual property rights dispute

According to BlockBeats, there have been reports that a senior executive in the Bitcoin mining industry was taken away by the police to assist in the investigation, and the amount involved was tens of millions of RMB. After BlockBeats asked people familiar with the matter, it was confirmed that the person taken away by the police was Yang Zuoxing, the founder and CEO of Shenma Mining Machine.

Today, an industry insider said, "Starting a business in the mining industry is very risky. Not only do you have to run your company well, but you also have to prevent your former employer from calling the police and arresting you." This seems to be a reference to a mining professional being taken away to assist in the investigation. BlockBeats then asked an insider, who said the person who was taken away was Yang Zuoxing, CEO of Shenzhen Bit Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.

It is understood that the reason why Yang Zuoxing was taken away by the police this time was related to the intellectual property dispute of Bitmain. He was taken away around the end of October and the amount involved was tens of millions of RMB. If the final investigation results are true, Yang Zuoxing may face a fixed-term imprisonment of more than three years but less than seven years.

This is not the first time that Yang Zuoxing, the founder of Shenma Mining Machine, has clashed with Bitmain. After Yang Zuoxing left Bitmain in 2016 to found BitMicro (Shenma Mining Machine), Bitmain sued him for patent infringement. According to a report by Caijing.com on September 11, 2018, Yang Zuoxing, CEO of Shenzhen BitMicro Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. (Shenma Mining Machine), received a "Civil Ruling" from the court, according to which Bitmain's lawsuit was dismissed.

Industry insiders commented that Yang Zuoxing’s being taken away by the police for investigation might be related to the intellectual property dispute with Bitmain.