Bitmain owns not just crypto mining equipment and warehouses but mining pools as well. They own Antpool and jointly own BTC.com, both are the top 2 mining pools in the world, giving Bitmain 42% dominance in hashpower.
Now the growing concern is if Bitmain reaches above 50% hashpower they may decide to launch the dreaded 51% attack: a hypothetical cyberattack by a group of miners controlling more than 50% of the network's mining hashrate, allowing them to prevent new transactions from gaining confirmations, ignore payments, and reverse transactions. But how does this happen and how much damage can it bring to the network?
Always remember that no matter how much they try to hide it, governments are threatened by Bitcoin's features. If there is any reason that they aren't making a direct move against Bitcoin, its likely because they don't understand it enough to recognize its danger to their existence. But I actually doubt that. I doubt they are stupid. I doubt China is stupid.
China had banned sales on Initial Coin Offerings last year, and this year they have stepped up their pressure on domestic cryptocurrency activities, including mining operations.
When Jihan was asked about China's stance on cryptocurrencies he could only say and I quote I’d rather not give any comment on the regulatory policies of the Chinese. It’s too sensitive.
What if the Chinese government find it in themselves to believe, that for whatever reason, China is better off if Bitcoin stopped existing at some point. This year,China is less libertarian than most countries. They might think twice before doing it, but the Chinese government could dismantle Bitmain anytime they want.