#深度创作营 From Wu Jihan liquidating his Bitcoin holdings to Vitalik Buterin selling off ETH—what does the current crypto market tell us?

The dual giants exit: Wu Jihan fully divests from Bitcoin, while V神 sells 10,723 ETH. Is this a retreat or an attack?
When believers start to exit, it’s either because winter is too cold or spring is near.
On February 24, 2026, the crypto world was hit with a double shock. On one side, the world’s largest mining company, Bitdeer, cleared all its Bitcoin reserves, with founder Wu Jihan personally severing his 15-year relationship with digital gold. On the other side, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin was monitored to have accelerated his ETH sales over the past three weeks, cashing out over $20 million. Two industry leaders—one called the “Bitcoin evangelist,” the other the “Father of Ethereum”—exited simultaneously, causing market sentiment to tighten sharply. Is this a major retreat or a prelude to a new round of strategic positioning?
01 Someone else’s kid, the “battle-hardened warrior” of the crypto world
Talking about Wu Jihan, one cannot ignore Li Xiaolai’s comment: “He is a wounded and bloodied warrior in the blockchain industry, an opponent he cannot defeat himself.” This praise is not unfounded. Wu Jihan has carried the “someone else’s kid” halo since childhood, entering Nankai High School with excellent grades at age 19 and then attending Peking University. After graduation, he entered venture capital, becoming a young investor. In 2011, he first encountered Bitcoin and was immediately captivated by this new phenomenon. He joined Bitcoin Talk forums, became the Chinese moderator, and raised 100,000 yuan from friends and family to buy 900 Bitcoins. At that time, Bitcoin was still a niche toy among tech geeks. Later that year, he co-founded the earliest Chinese Bitcoin community—BaiduBit with fellow sci-fi novelist Chang Jian. In August, he published his first article on BaiduBit, sharing his experience of buying things in China with Bitcoin. By year’s end, he translated Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” earning the title of “Bitcoin evangelist.”
02 From KuaNiao to Bitmain: the rise of the mining overlord
In August 2012, Wu Jihan invested in KuaNiao, acquiring 15,000 shares. That December, KuaNiao successfully developed the world’s first Bitcoin mining chip, marking Bitcoin mining’s shift from PCs to specialized hardware. By July 2013, KuaNiao’s mining farm could produce nearly 40,000 Bitcoins per month. Wu Jihan earned his first 10 million yuan. But his ambitions went further. After leaving KuaNiao, he teamed up with tech expert Zhang Jietuan to establish Bitmain. In July 2013, Bitmain launched its first product, the AntMiner S1, which gained quick success thanks to low power consumption. In 2015, as Bitcoin prices rebounded, Bitmain released the fifth-generation miner, AntMiner S5, becoming the most competitive in the market with a net profit of 334 million yuan that year. They later launched S7 and S9 models, dominating the industry. In early 2017, Bitcoin broke $1,500, and network congestion became prominent. Wu Jihan supported a hard fork, believing it would defend Satoshi’s vision of decentralization. On August 1, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) was born from a hard fork, earning Wu Jihan the title “Father of BCH.” At that time, AntMiner held 70% of the market share, and Bitmain’s ASIC chips accounted for nearly 80% of the market, controlling about 30% of the total hash rate. Wu Jihan truly became a “mining overlord.”
03 The moment of zeroing: a $63 million decision
Fast forward to February 2026. Bitdeer announced its latest holdings: zero Bitcoin. All 189.8 newly mined Bitcoins in the past week were sold, along with its existing reserve of 943.1 BTC, which was also cleared. At the then-price of $67,000 per Bitcoin, this amounted to about $63 million in cash. More intriguingly, two days before the liquidation, Bitdeer announced a $300 million issuance of convertible preferred notes to expand data centers, develop AI cloud services, and research new miners. While liquidating Bitcoin, they made a large investment in AI—this is not a retreat but a strategic asset transfer. Wu Jihan’s response confirmed this: “Holding zero now doesn’t mean it will stay that way forever.” The implication: this is just a phase, not the end.
04 Beyond zero: V神 also selling—10,723 ETH exit
At the same time Wu Jihan liquidated, another industry leader’s selling activity was tracked on-chain. According to the latest data up to February 24, V神 has sold a total of 10,723 ETH since February 2, worth about $21.74 million, with an average sale price of around $2,027 per ETH. Notably, the selling has accelerated in recent days:
- Past 2.5 days: 3,765 ETH sold, worth about $7.08 million
- Past 3 days: Address vitalik.eth associated with V神 sold 3,788.57 ETH
- Last 48 hours: Withdrawing 3,500 ETH from Aave, the selling pace quickened again. During the week of February 23, over 7,000 ETH were confirmed sold—this is not small change for pocket cash. Currently, V神 still holds over 224,000 ETH, valued at about $429 million, but around 7,350 ETH have been transferred to exchanges, potentially creating supply pressure.
This selling isn’t accidental. On January 30, V神 publicly stated he would withdraw and sell 16,384 ETH (worth about $45 million at the time) from his Kanro entity to fund ecosystem development, open-source projects, public health research, and other long-term initiatives, in response to Ethereum Foundation’s “mild tightening” period. The February sales are part of this plan.
The simultaneous exit of two major bulls signals a clear message: the market’s last dip may be approaching. The likely trigger is the mid-month Federal Reserve meeting—no rate cuts expected. Historically, after such meetings, markets often plunge.
05 The new survival rules for miners are being rewritten
Why is Wu Jihan doing this? The answer lies in the 2024 Bitcoin halving. After that halving, block rewards drop from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC, halving mining revenue under the same hash power. According to a JPMorgan report, Bitcoin’s network hash rate has recently declined sharply, with difficulty experiencing its largest adjustment since China’s mining ban in 2021—down 15% this year. This means many high-cost miners have been forced out. The survival rules for miners have changed dramatically. Early miners were the most loyal hodlers, reluctant to sell mined coins, only selling small amounts for electricity costs. Now, most mining companies are publicly listed, accountable to shareholders, and cannot afford to hold unrealized losses. Plus, with all funds tied up in Bitcoin, they can’t diversify into other opportunities. Bitdeer’s complete liquidation is the most extreme risk control—cutting the direct link to Bitcoin’s price volatility and reallocating capital into higher-return fields like AI.
This reminds us of MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, an extreme holder who refuses to sell and treats Bitcoin as faith. Wu Jihan, on the other hand, is more pragmatic—treating Bitcoin as a tool, adjusting strategies flexibly based on market conditions.
06 Cross-industry transformation under the AI wave
Transforming mining farms into AI data centers is a natural progression. Mining farms already require cheap electricity, good cooling, and stable networks—these are the basic infrastructure needs of AI data centers. By investing in GPU servers, upgrading software, and training operations teams, they can shift from Bitcoin mining to providing computing power for AI. CoreWeave has fully transitioned into an AI infrastructure company, and MARA is expanding through acquisitions of computing infrastructure firms. Bitdeer’s recent $300 million funding aims to follow the trail of pioneers—evolving from a single Bitcoin mining company into a diversified computing power service provider.
07 After zeroing out, where to go next
Wu Jihan’s liquidation, Bitdeer’s transformation, and V神’s selling activities reveal a fundamental industry truth: cryptocurrencies are moving away from reckless growth into a phase of rationality and pragmatism. Today’s miners are no longer the stubborn bulls of the past. They are now asset allocators, weighing whether holding Bitcoin or investing in AI offers better prospects. Project founders are no longer just believers—they need to raise funds for ecosystem development and respond to market cycles. Wu Jihan’s words serve as a reminder: “Holding zero now doesn’t mean it will stay that way forever.”
Zeroing out is not the end but a new beginning.
V神’s selling is the same—cash-out isn’t about leaving, but about injecting new vitality into the ecosystem.
08 Final thoughts: Bull markets make money, bear markets accumulate coins
What does the future hold for Bitcoin and Ethereum? The answer has long been known.
Looking back over a decade of blockchain development, we’ve seen explosive growth in 2013, endured the winter of 2015; witnessed the frenzy of 2017, survived the 2018 mining crisis; enjoyed the feast of 2021, and endured the crash of 2022. Cycles of bull and bear keep repeating, but the underlying technology of blockchain never stops evolving. Every bear market is a process of bubble bursting and a chance for truly valuable assets to settle. Bitcoin fell from hundreds to dozens of dollars, then rose again to $126,000; Ethereum dropped from $1,400 to $80, then hit a new high of $4,900. History repeatedly proves: as long as blockchain exists, cycles will continue; as long as cycles persist, opportunities will not be absent.
Wu Jihan’s liquidation of Bitcoin isn’t pessimism about the future but a strategic move to invest in AI’s new battlefield. V神’s ETH sales aren’t about leaving but about revitalizing the ecosystem. Their choices differ, but the logic is the same—when change is coming, having cash on hand is key to seizing the next opportunity. So, for small and medium investors, current market volatility might be frightening, but it could also be the start of a new opportunity. Keep cash ready, be patient. Wait for market sentiment to stabilize, for the Federal Reserve’s decision to settle, and for valuable assets to fall out of the “golden pit.” When others panic and sell, having bullets means you can smile brightest in the next bull run.
Blockchain is an inevitable trend of the future, and that has never changed. Bulls and bears alternate, tides rise and fall—your only job is to preserve your principal when the tide recedes and seize opportunities when it returns.
Wu Jihan said: “Holding zero now doesn’t mean it will stay that way forever.” The same applies to you and me. Believers exiting isn’t faith collapsing but faith upgrading.
When mining overlords put down their rigs and V神 sells ETH, they’re not fleeing—they’re waiting for the next spring!