Bitmain Shuts Down Research and Development Center in Israel

The ongoing bear market has caused another cryptocurrency company to downsize its operations. Bitmain, the Beijing-headquartered bitcoin mining technology giant, has now begun shutting down its research and development center in Ra’anana, Israel.

Also Read: Former Israeli Prime Minister Calls Cryptocurrencies a ‘Ponzi Scheme’

Bitmaintech Israel Closes Down

According to reports from Israel, Bitmain’s research and development center in the country will be shut down this week. A total of 23 employees are being laid off, and Gadi Glikberg, who headed the Israeli company and served as a VP at Bitmain, will also lose his position.

“The crypto market has been going through turmoil in the past few months, which has forced Bitmain to examine its various activities around the globe and to refocus its business in accordance with the current situation,” Glikberg told his staff according to a report by the local Globes newspaper.

AI and Mining Talent

Bitmaintech Israel was the company’s first R&D center outside of China. It created the ‘Connect BTC’ mining pool and also developed Artificial Intelligence applications for the Chinese company.

“Over the past three years, we have built an amazing team with the highest performance capabilities in the field. Our development plans included a lot of work in the field of onboarding and making digital currencies more accessible to the general public, but unfortunately the market growth and user base forecasts have not materialized. Therefore, it was sadly decided to terminate the activity and stop the work of the 23 employees of the company in Israel,” Glikberg added in his announcement to the employees.

“We are gathering together a number of applications from technology companies that have already shown an interest in recruiting staff, and our human resources department will continue to assist as much as possible in the rapid integration of our people into the job market. It was a wonderful journey, and I am saddened it ends this way, but at least we got to experience it with you – programmers and professionals among the best in the Israeli market and even the world. ”

Do you expect more cryptocurrency businesses to shut down if the market does not recover soon? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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