Cango Inc. (NYSE: CANG) pivots from automobile trading to Bitcoin mining

This guest post comes from Bitcoinminingstock.io, the one-stop hub for all things bitcoin mining stocks, educational tools, and industry insights.

Cango Inc. (NYSE: CANG) has become a hot topic in the stock market, known for its pivot from automobile trading to Bitcoin mining. The company is now aiming for 50 EH/s by early 2025, and with a growing BTC treasury and links to Bitmain, many are wondering if this could be the next big name in the mining sector.

The company’s journey began in Shanghai, where it focused on auto financing before pivoting to used car sales from China to Southeast Asia. By November 2024, Cango had launched Bitcoin mining operations with 32 EH/s online, placing it among the top-three public Bitcoin miners by deployed capacity.

This integration was swift, considering the company started the year with no mining operations and was pivoting from a relatively mature business with limited growth potential in automobile trading.

A Cango Deep Dive

The following guest post comes from Bitcoinminingstock.io, the one-stop hub for all things bitcoin mining stocks, educational tools, and industry insights. Originally published on Mar. 25, 2025, it was penned by Bitcoinminingstock.io author Cindy Feng.

It’s been a few weeks since our last deep dive into lesser-known names in the Bitcoin mining space. I’ve been a bit quiet—partly because the sector’s been in a slump, but also because I’ve been recovering from a lower-back injury (a reminder to listen to your body and don’t push it too hard with physical activities).

For the second installment of this series, I want to talk about Cango Inc. (NYSE: CANG).

Why Cango?

While the whole mining sector has been taking a beating lately, Cango has had a few strong days, boosted by its share buyback announcement and a non-binding buyout offer.

But here’s what really caught my eye: just a few months ago, this was still an automobile trading platform with limited growth potential. Now, it’s targeting 50 EH/s by early 2025, with 32 EH/s already online.

So how is this bold pivot playing out? And could Cango quietly become a major player in the space? Let’s dive in.

Company Overview

Cango Inc. (NYSE: CANG) began as a Shanghai-based auto financier and later positioned itself as a key player in China’s automobile trading services. By late 2023, the company has shifted its focus from the domestic market to facilitating used car sales from China to developing markets. Then in November 2024, Cango announced its entry into Bitcoin mining, launching operations with 32 EH/s of online hash rate. The scale and immediacy of this move surprised many investors—placing Cango just behind MARA and CleanSpark, and making it the third-largest public Bitcoin miner by deployed capacity at the time.

The mining acquisition deal was for 50 EH/s in total, with the remaining 18 EH/s expected to come online in Q1 2025, subject to the performance criteria outlined in the agreement. Notably, the infrastructure was not built from scratch: Cango acquired operational ASIC fleets directly from Bitmain, and a Bitmain affiliate continues to manage the machines’ operations and maintenance within third-party hosting facilities.

According to company disclosures, Cango has its fleet mainly hosted in the U.S.,East Africa, Oman and Paraguay – which keeps it clear from China’s ongoing crypto restrictions.

Financial Highlights

Revenue & Profitability Transformation

The impact of Cango’s pivot to Bitcoin mining is clearly reflected in its latest financial results. In Q4 2024, the company reported revenue of RMB 668 million ($91.5 million), a 414% YoY increase. This growth was almost entirely driven by Bitcoin mining, which accounted for 98% of total revenue. In contrast, the automobile trading segment, once Cango’s core business, just contributed RMB 15 million ($2.1 million) – a signal that this legacy segment is effectively being phased out.

Despite the revenue surge, profitability remains a key issue. Cango posted a gross margin of 17.6% in Q4—significantly lower than peers with similar operational scale. For comparison, CleanSpark, which operates in a comparable hash rate range, reported a 57% gross margin during the same period. This suggests that Cango’s cost structure is far from optimized. Reliance on third-party hostingand exposure to higher energy costs are two major attributors.

The company’s average Bitcoin production cost stood at $67,769 per BTC(cash cost includes energy and hosting fees). This figure places Cango toward the higher end of the cost curve among large public miners we track — many