BIT Mining, formerly 500.com, has announced that it will be disposing of its Chinese lottery related business for “nil consideration”. The group had refocused itself as a cryptocurrency mining enterprise, operating under the domain BTC.com. It says it’s planning to eliminate its interest in its variable interest entity (VIE), due to the “continued sustained losses by its Chinese lottery related business”, fully exiting the business to focus on crypto. During the first quarter of 2021, the VIE had contributed some 13.6 percent of the group’s total revenue, or RMB2.7 million (USD 420,000), while generating a net loss of RMB9.8 million. As of April the group had mined approximately 110 bitcoins, equivalent to revenue of roughly RMB40.6 million ($6.2 million).
