Poolin's Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Marks Long-Term Fallout from China's Crypto Crackdown
The recent bankruptcy filing of Poolin Technology Pte. Ltd., one of the oldest mining operators in the cryptocurrency industry, highlights the long-term damage caused by historic regulatory crackdowns.
The company, which controlled a massive 18-20% of the global hashrate at its peak around 2019, was forced to pivot west after China's 2021 crypto crackdown led to the infamous poolin btc ban.
Poolin subsequently struggled to maintain its place in the global mining ecosystem and watched its hashrate collapse to near zero. The company attempted to recover by establishing infrastructure in West Texas but faced immense capitulation bottlenecks and capital strain.
The platform froze its wallet services to prevent a complete capital drain, and co-founder Kevin Pan publicly acknowledged massive liquidity problems in a WeChat post. To manage user dissatisfaction, the company issued IOUs to approximately 11,700 customers, totaling an estimated $163.7 million.