Chinese Car Dealer Company Cango Starts Mining Bitcoin

Bitcoin mining facilities. (Doc. Wired)

JAKARTA - Bitcoin Mining (BTC) has become one of the lucrative sectors for many companies around the world. One of the new players who plunged into this industry is Cango Inc., a car dealer company from Shanghai.

In November 2024, Cango announced the acquisition of hash capacity of 32 exahashes per second (EH/s) worth US$256 million (around Rp4.15 trillion) from Bitmain Technologies. This move makes Cango one of the main players in the global Bitcoin mining industry.

Cango managed to mine 363 BTC in November 2024, with a value of around 36 million US dollars (Rp583.2 billion), without having to sell any assets. A report from The MinerMag states that Cango is now in fifth position as the largest public Bitcoin miner based on the realized hash capacity.

Not only that, Cango also occupies the third largest position based on the hash capacity used. Cango contributes about 4% of the total Bitcoin mined around the world, an extraordinary achievement for companies that have just plunged into this sector.

Cango's decision to enter the Bitcoin mining industry came after acquiring mining facilities operating outside China.

The company bought mining devices from Bitmain and placed them in service provider facilities in the United States, possibly in Georgia, through an 18-month collocation agreement. This allows Cango to avoid opening its own data center, given China's ban on crypto mining since 2021.

Cango plans to increase hash capacity by 18 EH/s by buying devices from Golden TechGen, the company led by former Bitmain CFO, Max Hua.

The agreement, which is expected to be completed in March 2025, will involve the issuance of 144 million US dollars (Rp2.33 trillion) in shares. If this is achieved, Cango's total hash capacity will reach 50 EH/s, equivalent to industry leaders such as Marathon Digital Holdings.