This article comes from Mi Xiaoou (ID: xiaoo-me)
October 2014. Huai'an Economic Development Zone, Jiangsu. Along a small road, weeds on both sides. At the end, there is a row of bungalows. Inside, there are 6,000 Tube mining machines, 5P computing power, and two ventilation holes in the front and back. This is Jiang Xinyu's new mining factory. 450 bitcoins are mined every day, which is equivalent to about 24,804,000 RMB today. A month later, Jiang Xinyu got married. Two months later, Jiang Xinyu disappeared. Nine months later, the Hefei Intermediate People's Court ruled that Jiang Xinyu and Wang Xian divorced. Since then, no one has been able to find Jiang Xinyu.
### Multifaceted Cat: Genius, Geek, Loser
Jiang Xinyu, nicknamed Kaomao, was born in Shaoyang, Hunan in 1986. He is a genius, a geek, a homeboy, a loser, and a tall and thin man. He has messy hair, a torn shirt, white shorts and black slippers. He drinks Yibao mineral water, likes all kinds of food, and especially loves crayfish. He is a man of few words, but when he speaks, he hits the nail on the head and leaves the audience speechless. He reads ten lines at a glance, believes in logical empiricism, and rejects traditional Chinese medicine. He also likes to brag. For example, he would argue with people for a long time about whether Ygritte should take off her clothes in the third season of Game of Thrones. He often bites his nails and his keyboard and mouse are dirty... Until now, his QQ signature is still: Don't panic.
In 2001, 15-year-old FC was admitted to the Junior Class of USTC from Shaoyang No. 1 Middle School in Hunan with a national total score ranking 11th. In 2009, 23-year-old FC obtained a master's degree from USTC with his thesis "Building a Secure Thread Mechanism with Formal Methods". In 2011, FC went to Yale for a doctoral program, but dropped out midway and did not get a doctorate. In the same year, he co-wrote a paper with his old USTC classmate David (Fan Dawei, who went to Shanghai after graduating from his master's program) entitled "Code Optimization and Program Specification Transformation in Proof Compilers", which was published in the domestic journal "Small and Microcomputer Systems" No. 7, pages 1400-1405. At that time, FC heard David talk about Bitcoin and began to study Satoshi Nakamoto's paper...
Lin Yu (pseudonym), a colleague of Kaomao in the USTC laboratory, said, "He started to collaborate with me on research after he entered the laboratory. He is a very cheerful and humorous kid." He is aloof and "never cares about other people's opinions." He has a rich inner world. "I have never seen him angry or quarrel with anyone." Kaomao and Lin Yu met at the USTC campus forum in their senior year. "He is a fan of the Scheme language. Later, he liked to use the Haskell language and recommended it to David. They had a good relationship in school."
On January 16, 2012, Friedcat registered friedcat as his nickname on the bitcointalk.org forum. In June, Butterfly Labs of the United States announced the manufacture of Asic mining machines, claiming that it would launch mining machine products in September, which triggered a wave of discussion on Asic mining machines. On July 12, David registered Bitquan Information Technology Co., Ltd. in Shenzhen.
On August 7, 2012, FriedCat and David conducted an IPO (now called ICO) on the GLBSE exchange, and the name of the issued stock was Asicminer. The total share capital was 400,000 shares, 59% of which was held by FriedCat Company (Bitfountain), the issue price was 0.1 BTC/share, and a total of 163,962 shares were issued. According to the exchange rate at the time, about 1 million RMB was raised. Wu Jihan and Xiaoqiang (Xie Jian, Rock Xie) both invested 1,000 BTC, and both received 10,000 shares, plus 2,500 shares for free. On August 9, FriedCat posted on bitcointalk: "ASICMINER: Entering the Future of ASIC Mining by Inventing It", introducing the FriedCat mining machine and responding to external doubts.
In the article "Baked Cat: A Pioneer Taking a Different Path", the author Song Wanyu mentioned: "(Baked Cat Company) shareholders enjoy 100% of the profits and the right to sell shares for product reinvestment. Equity is directly linked to the Bitcoin address, and the proceeds from mining and mining hardware sales are paid through the owner's address every Wednesday."
On October 8, 2012, the GLBSE exchange was closed due to regulatory compliance issues. At the end of 2012, David called Wang Song... David was from Henan, and Wang Song was from Fuyang. The two met when they were repeating at Jieshou No. 1 Middle School in Anhui. At this time, Wang Song was in his hometown of Fuyang. David did not mention FriedCat to Wang Song, but only "vaguely mentioned a project about mining machines." At that time, "both FriedCat and David" had "standard science and engineering thinking, and I was relatively market-oriented." Wang Song recalled.
### 8 months: wealth creation, myth, and collapse
In early 2013, in Shenzhen Maple Leaf Garden Apartment, David lived with Wang Song, while FC lived with Zhuang Zhong (now the head of BTC.com mining pool). David was in charge of product design. Wang Song was in charge of procurement, supply chain and mining factory. Zhuang Zhong wrote code. FC was in charge of external investor relations. Several people lived there for half a year. At this time, FC 12.8G mining machine was launched.
On February 18, 2013, at 14:01:11, the ASICMiner (ASICMiner wallet address: 1HtUGfbDcMzTeHWx2Dbgnhc6kYnj1Hp24i) began to produce the first block, totaling 50 BTC.
April 2013, Gongming Street, Shenzhen. Wang Song prepared to establish the "Baomao Mining Factory" here. On the 23rd, near a science and technology park, he signed an agreement and "officially launched on May 1st". Wang Song said, "Only half of the whole room (mining machines) are placed, accounting for 42% of the total network computing power." At this time, Avalon announced that it would focus on chip research and development (not to be shipped until September) and no longer manufacture mining machines. Butterfly was delayed in shipping, and Baomao began to sell spot USB mining machines and blade mining machines. At the same time, Baomao's mining activities gradually withdrew from major mining pools and began independent mining (Solo mining). The deployed computing power fluctuated between 30 T and 40 T.
The mining farm of the new generation of mining machines using the BE300 chip of the BBK
In May 2013, the computing power market became the world of FriedCat. Because the computing power was too large and concentrated, Wang Song said that for two consecutive months, "the community was twice panicked about 51% attacks." As a last resort, "we also sold the machines to others." But "they only sold mining machines that did not account for 20% of the total computing power of the network, because they set the goal to maintain 20% of the computing power of the entire network." Song Wanyu said in the article.
"At that time, Butterfly's Asic mining machine was just a piece of paper. Although Avalon's mining machine was extremely efficient, their number was still small. The first three batches totaled only 1,500 units. Although it had a significant impact on the computing power of the entire network, It has a boosting effect, but it does not pose a serious challenge to Roast Cat, which has considerable technical strength."
In 2013, the first quarter financial report of FC Company showed that a total of 67,515.09 bitcoins were paid in dividends. The amount of dividends paid per share: 0.023544 bitcoins on February 28, 0.019163 bitcoins on March 6, 0.025998 bitcoins on March 20, and the amount of dividends decreased from March 24 to April 3, with the lowest dividend per share falling to 0.002556. The dividends gradually increased after 100 bitcoins, reaching a peak of 0.036222 bitcoins on May 15, and 0.026538 bitcoins on May 29. At this time, the average price per share of FC was 2.5 bitcoins, which was 25 times the value per share at the time of IPO.
Wang Song clearly remembers the first Wednesday of May 2013: “More than 13,000 bitcoins were distributed” that day. In June, the price of FC stock reached 3.4 BTC/share. Only then did Butterfly start to ship out orders for 2012. On June 7, Taobit announced that it had become the Chinese agent of FC.
On June 29, 2013, at No. 200 Guoding East Road, Shanghai, the public training base for entrepreneurs, Xiaoqiang, Cao Xiaogang (early shareholder of Kaomao), Shenyu (Mao Shixing, now co-founder of CoBo), Chongge (Fang Xuchu, early agent of Kaomao mining machine), and other friends in the circle gathered here. Several PPTs were played here, one of which introduced Kaomao: good at English, a technical geek, a generalist, trustworthy, with a keen eye for investment, and a pragmatist.
In July 2013, Avalon sent an order for 10,000 chips to Switzerland. At this time, the stock price of BBQ rose to 5 BTC/share, and the stock return reached more than 500 times. About 140,000 BTC was distributed to shareholders, and the peak computing power reached 47 T.
In August 2013, Avalon sent another batch of orders. At this time, Baked Cat sold 20,000 coins and prepared to develop 40nm chips.
August 31, 2013, at the Rockminer Shenzhen mining factory. At a glance, there are seven racks standing side by side, and on each rack, there are several blade servers, all connected with yellow network cables. At both ends of the racks, there are large vertical fans blowing directly at the racks. At the other end of the room, newly unpacked blades are placed horizontally on the ground. Brother Chong and Alex (Lin Zhipeng, the former co-founder of Rockminer) are adjusting the 8-way voltage of the Rockminer. "Roasted Cat thinks mining is something that geeks do. He deliberately exposed the chips and designed it so that the voltage must be adjusted manually one by one." Each route has to be rotated 20 times, and a blade has to be rotated 160 times. That day, they rotated 20,000 times. "Only when the voltage is adjusted properly can the power consumption be reduced to a minimum." Rockminer "never thinks this is a commodity," "but a toy among geeks, a big toy."
In September 2013, Avalon began to send orders on a large scale, and all 800,000 chips were shipped. According to Cao Xiaogang's visit records, Baked Cat was building a liquid-cooled mining plant in Hong Kong at that time. "We purchased the best coolers and pumps from mainland China and installed them on the rooftop with a crane. By October, this computer room had begun to output computing power."
Cao Xiaogang visits the Hong Kong Liquid Cooling Mine Factory of BBQ Cat
On October 14, 2013, BitQuan announced that the total computing power of BakedCat was only 71 TH/S, accounting for less than 4% of the total computing power of the entire network. Wang Song recalled that at that time, a mining machine called GHash appeared in Ukraine, with a computing power 8 times that of BakedCat and using 55nm-level technology. At about the same time, shareholder Wu Jihan left and then founded Antminer, and Antminer S1 also used 55nm-level technology. After some internal discussions, BakedCat mining machines used 40nm level. Later, Ant went to 28nm level, and several other companies like KMC, Avalon, Butterfly, and Core Motion followed suit. After software simulation testing, BakedCat's second-generation chip research and development output, but not mass production. "Our 40nm level has achieved the so-called 28nm level of others", "For the same power consumption, Ant's computing power is one T, and ours is more than two T." "Yangyang Interview" revealed that BakedCat "developed the third generation while developing the second generation, and may use about 28nm level."
### Mysterious person: Huai'an, flash marriage, missing
In early 2014, BBK launched 40nm-level technology and announced the successful development of the third-generation chip. At the end of April, samples were available. In May, BBK started selling chips. At that time, Xiaoqiang mining machine, Zhao Dong (co-founder of Moji Weather)'s Dragonfly mining machine, Garden mining machine, etc. appeared. At the end of June, Zhao Dong mass-produced the first batch of BBK chip mining machines in the industry. In July, BBK prepared for the development of the next generation of chips, but did not invest in a large number of chips. Instead, it made an MPW to test the chips. In August, a post appeared online by a small shareholder questioning BBK's long-term lack of dividends.
Sun Xiaoxiao, the sales manager of the FC team, said: "In 2014, due to the delay of the FC chip, when its mining machine was released, it faced great marketing pressure. In fact, the sales situation was not very ideal when I participated in the sales of that team." Mining is a race against time, especially "after the delay, there is not such a big advantage."
September 2014. Junyi (according to Chongge, he was the middleman who introduced Kaomao to the Huai'an mine and also represented Kaomao's products) recommended Kaomao to Lin Qingxin, who was from Fujian and "claimed to be a shareholder of Shuanghui Group". During their first meeting, Lin Qingxin slapped his pilot's license on the table. He said he could help Kaomao build a new mine in Huai'an, "under the name of cold storage, and could enjoy subsidies from the Jiangsu Provincial Government". The agreement was: Kaomao would pay the electricity bill first, and Lin Qingxin would invest in the site plus 40 cents per kilowatt hour. At that time, "we put 6,000 machines in". Later, problems arose, Wang Song said, "It was not a design problem, not a process problem", but Nantong Fujitsu, when packaging the chip, "their packaging technology was not good". As a result, "there was air between the gel and the mounting" inside the chip. After being heated, it expanded, and "the chip would burst".
In October 2014, FC and Wang Xian completed a premarital examination at the Maternal and Child Health Care Center in Baohe District, Hefei, and got married.
Saturday, November 1, 2014, Shenzhen, BBQCat and Michael Su.
In January 2015, FriedCat got the 40nm chip. But the mining factory had problems. Wang Song said, "He (Lin Qingxin) changed our account to his own" and hijacked the computing power. FriedCat went to coordinate, but was brushed off. Later, the company went to several groups of people, but to no avail. "We also sent a lawyer's letter, but they ignored it." No one cared when we called the police. The other party's attitude became more arrogant. "We found dozens of idle people from the local area and surrounded us." The leader said, "If you dare to touch me, I will hit me..."
At this time, the computing power of competitors skyrocketed, Ant S5 was shipped crazily, and a 25,000-kilowatt mining plant was built in Ya'an, Sichuan. "We were shipping and repairing the mining plant at the same time." In those days, investors came to us every day and asked, "How long has it been? Why haven't you paid dividends on the stocks..." Wang Song recalled. The BBQ team planned to give up Huai'an and prepare to go to Sweden to find a mining plant. The passports and air tickets were all ready, but just as they were about to go, BBQ disappeared...
Called the police...filed a case...started an investigation...to no avail.
The bitcointalk forum shows that FriedCat last logged in on January 26, 2015.
### After the disappearance: gossip, suspicion, and legend
On February 28, 2015, AMHash (a project commissioned by Kaomao Inc. to Xiaoqiang Inc., responsible for computing power sales and acting as an agent for Kaomao Cloud computing power dividends) published an English announcement on the bitcointalk forum: "The Announcement of AMHash Dividends Suspending", stopping dividends.
On the evening of March 3, 2015, a netizen named "Yon\_Wu" on Babbitt.com posted: "Legendary figure in the cryptocurrency world, FriedCat, may have met with an accident." He pointed out that in the three Bitcoin addresses of FriedCat, "19,000 coins were transferred away in a few minutes! Worth 30 million!" He also exposed the three Bitcoin addresses of FriedCat:
15h6A2a3D31vRviBDdSpvhLtYJq3aePhdW
1HgTJED7XEGy4vVwKa8kgefWqUB3VRX2mW
1BnkEt2ceoVhnQVrqeAzigcroQ6MVyxFey
In the early morning of March 4, Zhao Dong claimed in the WeChat group of BiTech that he had “contacted the Huai’an side” and “said that FriedCat was fine.” On the same day, the office of BitQuen in Shenzhen Coastal City was empty, and the employees claimed that they were moving.
On March 11, David officially announced in the bitcointalk forum in the name of the official (ASICMINER Management) that Friedcat was missing, "Friedcat went missing and this caused an interruption with the business."
On March 12, Xiaoqiang posted a post titled "Let me talk about AMHash for the last time": I "don't believe that FC is avoiding me subjectively, but the objective fact of his disappearance has caused harm to many people, including me."
6 Months Later…
On October 15, 2015, the Hefei Intermediate People's Court ruled that Kaomao and Wang Xian should divorce.
Two years later…
On August 5, 2017, Bitcoin86.com published an article titled "Top 10 Unsolved Mysteries in the Cryptocurrency Circle - Where did FriedCat go? He has made some big moves recently". The article stated: "On July 29 and August 4, there were 5 transfer records in FriedCat's 2 wallet accounts. A total of 17,597 BTC were transferred out". This is equivalent to about RMB 967,835,000 today.
On November 7, 2017, in the documentary "Bitcoin Shape the Future", at 26 minutes and 58 seconds, Wu Jihan said: "Baomao told me that we can make special integrated circuit chips for mining. It should be said that Baomao brought me into the mining industry." When asked if he could talk about why Baomao withdrew from the cryptocurrency circle, Wu Jihan's face sank and he murmured: "I don't want to answer this..." Wu looked down: "Because of some reasons at the time, this is an internal problem of the team", "I don't want to say more, my only choice is to start another company..." Wu Jihan looked at the camera, his face expressionless, nodding as he spoke.
On March 21, 2018, someone replied to the post “ASICMINER: Entering the Future of ASIC Mining by Inventing It”: “Old Story, ASICMINER was a company where the owner disappeared leaving investors down…”
At 01:51:22 on April 21, 2018, the BakeCat mining machine produced 0.0000273 BTC, and the cumulative output in history was 139,888.96039648 BTC.
In the summer of 2014, Kaomao and Xiaogui, the editor-in-chief of Yibit
Until now, the police are still monitoring FriedCat’s ID card and passport, but there has been no progress. Lin Yu believes that “FriedCat will not hide for money”. Junyi said, “He is a low-key person. Apart from community communication and information release, he does not participate in domestic cryptocurrency gatherings and activities very often”. He is “not proactive and probably has no time to chat with others”. “Most people think he is a good person, which many people can confirm.”
Lu Tong, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, once wrote in "Four Poems with Reflections on the Ancients": "What is precious in life, what is precious has an end and a beginning. Yesterday, the jade was full of treasures, but now it is full of flaws... If you don't sleep in the quilt, trust in the quilt." Wear it. The mirror does not illuminate itself, and the moisturizing oil only burns itself. I hold my sword for a long time, and my tears fall in front of the autumn wind..." Jiang Xinyu called himself "Giant Goose" on Douban and wrote: "This is the best time" and introduced that he would "use his life to be cute". Currently, Douban prompts: "This account has security risks and has been temporarily locked for protection." Click "Why is the account locked?" and it will be blank when opened.
### Postscript: Three People
There are many reasons for the disappearance of FriedCat. In my opinion, the most important ones are three people.
1. Wang Xian.
In 2013, Wang forced Friedmao to marry him in Shenzhen, and Friedmao bought a house in Shenzhen. In October 2014, Wang married Friedmao in a flash. Friedmao disappeared in January 2015, and in October, Wang filed for divorce through the court. Liu Ren firmly believed that Friedmao was not dead, and even if Friedmao’s Bitcoin was pre-marital property, if he died, the court would "default that it was the common property of the couple" and "the wife would be the first heir."
Reporter Liu Jing wrote an article titled "Looking for Fried Cat". She said that she found Fried Cat's mother and the first thing she asked was: "Are you in touch with Jiang Xinyu?"
2. David.
David and FriedCat were classmates at the University of Science and Technology of China, and both were science and engineering geeks. It was David who told FriedCat about Bitcoin, and it was David's idea to register the Bitcoin Spring Company. When setting up the company in Shenzhen, David was in charge of the internal affairs, while FriedCat was in charge of the external affairs. FriedCat was a typical person who was not good at talking, but David asked him to handle the external investor relations.
David is now studying abroad, doesn’t meet anyone, and refuses to talk about FC.
3. Wu Jihan.
Who is Wu Jihan? His public profile online says: "He is a well-deserved hall-of-fame figure in the cryptocurrency world. He graduated from Peking University with a double degree in psychology and economics. He is a recognized Bitcoin evangelist in the industry. He came into contact with Bitcoin as early as 2011. He founded Babbitt with Chang Qian and others, and later created the mining machine chip company Bitmain."
In this introduction, Wu Jihan did not mention FriedCat. But when he talked about FriedCat in private, Wu Jihan often choked up.
Reprinted from www.btcer.org
