Article Author: Lesley
Source: MetaEra
Core Insights
• Compared to a simple holding strategy, using mining as a strategic path into Web 3.0 has three advantages: strong volatility resistance, stable cash flow resilience, and potential for synergistic asset appreciation.
• Cango does not view mining as the ultimate goal but rather as a means to establish long-term capabilities for controlling electricity resource costs and optimizing efficiency, laying the foundation for the company's long-term development.
• The essence of traditional enterprises entering Web 3.0 is to exchange physical resources for on-chain value anchoring; only by making breakthroughs in three dimensions—technological innovation, compliance construction, and economic model optimization—can one truly capitalize on strengths and avoid weaknesses, ensuring stability and longevity.
The Web 3.0 strategies and layouts of listed companies have become increasingly hot topics of public interest. Against this backdrop, MetaEra has officially launched a series of high-end dialogues with executives of cryptocurrency concept stocks. We will engage with those corporate leaders who dare to lead in the wave of digital transformation, exploring their strategic layouts, business innovations, and financial innovations through the first-person perspectives of decision-makers, providing forward-looking insights for industry participants.
In November 2024, the New York Stock Exchange-listed company Cango (Cango Inc., NYSE: CANG), which has been deeply involved in the automotive finance field for years, decisively announced its entry into the Bitcoin computing power mining sector to address the growth bottlenecks of its traditional main business, becoming a pioneer for listed companies exploring the Web 3.0 track. On July 23, 2025, Cango announced the completion of a secondary acquisition and the simultaneous appointment of a new management team with rich blockchain experience, marking the official completion of the company's transformation into a Bitcoin mining company.
Cango announced the completion of a secondary acquisition and appointed a new management team.
In this interview, MetaEra interviewed Cango's newly appointed CEO and Director Paul Yu—an experienced builder and entrepreneur with more than 18 years in Bitcoin mining, energy infrastructure, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and asset management—who is leading Cango onto a new growth track.
From Automotive Finance to Global Mining Company: Cango's Stunning Transformation
Looking back on its development history, Cango was an important player in China's automotive finance sector. In 2018, the company successfully listed on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming a Chinese enterprise that rang the bell on Wall Street. However, with changes in the internet finance business environment and facing bottlenecks in traditional operations, Cango urgently needed to find new growth engines.
In November 2024, Cango officially entered the cryptocurrency field, fully transforming into a "Bitcoin mining company," with business rapidly expanding to North America, the Middle East, South America, and East Africa. On July 23, 2025, Cango announced the appointment of a new board and executive team with expertise in digital asset infrastructure, finance, and energy investment, officially completing its transformation into a Bitcoin mining company.
As a senior practitioner in the blockchain industry, why did Paul Yu choose to join Cango as CEO and Director at this time? MetaEra conducted an exclusive interview with him.
Cango announces the appointment of Mr. Paul Yu as CEO and Director.
When talking about the reason for joining Cango, Paul Yu bluntly stated that he was attracted by the company's transformation ambition. "As a long-term practitioner in the Bitcoin mining field, I deeply resonate with Cango's strategic transformation ambition," Paul Yu said, "The company has increased its computing power from zero to 50 EH/s, the second largest in the world, through cash acquisition and equity swap in just 9 months. This efficient execution aligns closely with my deep-rooted industry philosophy."
He pointed out that Cango's successful transformation is closely related to precise market timing: "When finalizing the transaction in 2024, Bitcoin (BTC) was still at a cyclical low, the prices of mining machines were low (we selected the cost-effective S19 XP model), and the competition for computing power had not yet intensified, establishing a low-cost advantage for subsequent profitability." He cited data indicating that in Q4 2024, the company's Bitcoin mining revenue reached 653 million RMB (approximately $89.5 million), with total quarterly revenue of 668 million RMB (approximately $91.5 million), a year-on-year increase of over 400%, completely reversing the decline of the automotive business.
Paul Yu is confident about Cango's future, with specific reasons being: Cango's Q1 2025 financial report showed strong financial resilience. He introduced, "As of the end of Q1 2025, the company held cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments totaling 2.5 billion RMB (approximately $346.7 million), with a cumulative holding of 2,475 BTC."
He pointed out that joining Cango coincided with favorable policies: "Multiple states in the US are incorporating Bitcoin into their financial reserves, pushing the price of Bitcoin to break through $120,000, opening up profit windows for mining companies." Against this backdrop, Paul Yu stated, "With the resonance of business fundamentals, capital strength, and industry opportunities, I look forward to leading the team to achieve a leap from exploratory transformation to global leadership."
Cango's transformation is not only an adjustment of business direction but also a true reflection of how listed companies are building new growth curves in the crypto era.
Layout for the Future: How Cango Builds a Global Computing Power Ecology?
Traditional enterprises enter the crypto market in various ways; some choose to adopt a holding strategy or invest in blockchain technology, while others enter this emerging field through mergers, cross-border collaborations, and other means. However, faced with increasingly fierce competition in the crypto market, Cango chose to enter by mining Bitcoin, creating a global computing power ecology.
Strategic Direction: Why Choose Mining Instead of Holding?
In the strategic choices of cryptocurrency companies, whether to hold coins or mine has always been an unavoidable core issue. Faced with the mainstream US stock companies generally choosing the "buy and hold" strategy, Cango decisively chose the "mining production" track early on.
Paul Yu believes that compared to a simple holding strategy, using mining as a strategic path into Web 3.0 has three advantages:
・Volatility Resistance: Adjusting the operating rate of mining machines dynamically to hedge against cryptocurrency price fluctuations, maintaining the average BTC holding cost within a controllable range.
・Cash Flow Resilience: With a current computing power scale of 50 EH/s, Cango produces more than 20 BTC daily on average, providing the company with stable cash flow.
・Asset Synergistic Value Addition: Mining machines as physical assets can be used for collateral financing, forming a dual leverage structure with BTC liquid assets.
At the same time, geopolitical policy factors have strongly driven this strategic choice. "The Trump administration's policy support for cryptocurrencies has created an unprecedented strategic window for us," Paul Yu pointed out, "especially in promoting the repeal of SAB 121, encouraging state governments to incorporate BTC into their financial reserves, and other policies that have substantively improved the operational environment for mining companies." Cango is also leveraging this policy windfall to accelerate its layout in North America and the global market.
Paul Yu revealed that in order to better implement its global strategy, Cango is also planning to establish a local team and headquarters in the United States, demonstrating its global layout and emphasis on the North American market.
However, Paul Yu also emphasized that mining is not the endpoint, but the starting point for Cango’s entry into the era of computing power. Under his leadership, Cango is steadily expanding its business and establishing new growth points in the fields of Web 3.0 and energy computing.
Strategic Goal: Entering through Mining, Leading to a Future of Elastic Computing Power
Cango's future layout is not only a horizontal expansion of business but also a systematic upgrade based on a profound understanding of the relationship between energy and computing power.
"Cango starts with Bitcoin mining to build large-scale computing power operation capabilities, with the core goal of accumulating experience in 'energy acquisition and management,' such as selecting low-electricity areas and engaging in dynamic power arbitrage," Paul Yu explained. Cango does not view mining as the ultimate goal but leverages mining to establish long-term capabilities in controlling electricity resource costs and optimizing efficiency, laying the foundation for the company's long-term development.
Cango's computing power scale has reached 50 EH/s, making it the second largest in the world.
Based on the above ideas, in Paul Yu's strategic blueprint, Cango's development path is clearly divided into three stages—from efficiency release to energy integration, and finally to a leap in positioning as a computing power dispatch platform. Based on this, Paul Yu introduced Cango's future goals to MetaEra.
・Short-term Goals: Release the computing power value of 50 EH/s by improving operational efficiency, including enhancing operational efficiency, upgrading machines, etc., and selectively acquiring low electricity cost mining sites to reduce the cost per BTC.
・Mid-term Strategy: Build a "energy + computing power" dual-drive. Pilot "green electricity + energy storage" projects in renewable energy-rich areas, bringing the electricity costs of some mining sites close to zero, and converting surplus electricity into revenue sources. At the same time, reuse mining facilities to provide HPC (high-performance computing) services to AI companies, creating a second growth curve.
・Long-term Positioning: To become an elastic computing power dispatcher, dynamically allocating resources to BTC mining and AI computing, forming a composite business model of "mining profit + AI service fees + green electricity trading."
Regarding Cango's future positioning, Paul Yu summarized the advantages of the current strategy: "Cango will focus on upgrading energy value, achieving zero marginal cost power supply for some mining sites through green electricity infrastructure, and gradually providing HPC services to AI clients, ultimately creating an elastic computing power pool to significantly enhance asset utilization and cyclical resistance."
In the current situation of explosive global demand for computing power, and the increasingly clear trend of integration between AI and cryptocurrency infrastructure, Cango's strategic layout is not only a reconstruction of the traditional mining company model but also expected to win it a decisive advantage for cross-cycle growth.
The Wave of Cryptocurrency-Stock Integration: The Second Growth Curve for Traditional Listed Companies?
In the context of the deepening integration of cryptocurrency assets and traditional finance, listed companies are becoming key drivers of this historic change.
Structural Advantages of Traditional Listed Companies in Web 3.0
Compared to native cryptocurrency companies, traditional listed companies exhibit irreplaceable structural advantages in their transformation to Web 3.0. Paul Yu provides strong evidence for this viewpoint with Cango's practice. Paul Yu believes that Cango's core advantages are reflected in three dimensions.
First is the compliance gene. "Listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018 allowed us to build a mature compliance system," Paul Yu explained. "From SEC disclosure standards to cross-border regulatory responses, this complete compliance framework is being fully migrated to Cango's new business." This compliance capability is particularly valuable in the current tightening regulatory environment.
Secondly, it is a light asset approach. Cango chose to quickly enter the industry by acquiring second-hand mining machines, avoiding the market difficulties of tight supply and high prices for new machines, allowing Cango to achieve industry-leading operational efficiency with relatively small capital investment. "The single-coin depreciation cost of the S19XP model we use is only $13,000, far lower than the cost of new machines at the same time," Paul Yu pointed out, "More importantly, we have established strategic partnerships with key industry players, including Bitmain and Antalpha, to ensure stable development."
The third is strategic discipline. "We always adhere to the principle of prioritizing cash flow quality, focusing on building hard power in computing power efficiency and energy infrastructure," Paul Yu emphasized. This focused strategy allows Cango to maintain a clear development direction amid the complex and volatile crypto market, directing limited resources to the most valuable long-term investments.
"In our view, the essence of traditional enterprises entering Web 3.0 is to exchange physical resources for on-chain value anchoring," Paul Yu summarized, "Only by making breakthroughs in technological innovation, compliance construction, and economic model optimization can one truly capitalize on strengths and avoid weaknesses, ensuring stability and longevity."
It is important to note that against the backdrop of the integration of cryptocurrency and stocks, the valuation logic of listed companies is also being redefined. Paul Yu stated that the trend of cryptocurrency-stock integration will change the way companies are valued, and the valuation of listed companies needs to combine traditional discounted cash flow (DCF) and on-chain asset value (such as BTC holdings, computing power scale) dual models. This shift raises higher requirements for listed companies: they must establish a transparent and efficient information disclosure mechanism to bridge the gap in traditional investors’ understanding of Web 3.0 assets.
Cango on Stock Tokenization: Optimistic but Not Yet Involved
When discussing the trend of stock tokenization, Paul Yu showed both recognition and restraint.
"We recognize the potential of stock tokenization to enhance liquidity, lower investment thresholds, and optimize capital efficiency, allowing investors to enjoy 24-hour global trading, on-chain real-time dividends, and other experiences. These innovations inject the efficient gene of blockchain into traditional finance."
"Although industry innovations are exciting, Cango has not yet initiated any substantial exploration of stock tokenization," Paul Yu admitted. "Our strategic priorities are clearly focused on two points: maximizing computing power efficiency and energy infrastructure establishment; these two pillars are the core of Cango's transition from a 'mining company' to a 'comprehensive green energy service provider.'"
Paul Yu stated that Cango's current strategic focus remains on the two core areas of computing power and energy. This strategic discipline of "doing what should be done and not doing what shouldn't be done" precisely reflects mature enterprises' profound understanding of resource allocation efficiency. In the current Web 3.0 landscape, where opportunities abound, companies that can resist temptation and focus on core businesses are often more likely to build a long-term competitive advantage.
Summary: Traditional Finance and Web 3.0 are Merging
Cango's stunning transformation from "automotive finance company" to "Bitcoin mining company" reflects traditional listed companies' search for a second growth curve. Against the backdrop of a friendlier policy environment and continuous influx of institutional funds, more and more traditional enterprises are beginning to incorporate digital assets into their strategic considerations, and the "integration of cryptocurrency and stocks" is moving from concept to reality.
However, the success of the transformation is by no means accidental. Cango's ability to become a leading global mining company within just 9 months is crucially tied to precise timing, efficient resource allocation, and clear strategic positioning. This reminds us that the transformation to Web 3.0 tests not only the foresight of enterprises but also their execution and risk control capabilities.
In today's thriving Web 3.0 industry, long-term builders are gradually replacing short-term speculators as the dominant force in industry development. Cango's transformation is undoubtedly an important part of this change.
