Cango Sells 4,451 BTC to Cut Debt and Fund AI Expansion

Cango Inc. has sold more than $300 million worth of Bitcoin to repay loans and pivot toward a new growth strategy centered on artificial intelligence.

Key Takeaways

• Cango sold 4,451 Bitcoin for $305 million over the weekend of February 7–8, using proceeds to pay down a Bitcoin-collateralized loan.
• The sale significantly reduced the company’s Bitcoin holdings by around 60 percent and aimed to improve its balance sheet and cut financial leverage.
• Cango is shifting toward AI compute infrastructure, deploying GPU-powered nodes and hiring a new CTO to lead the strategy.
• The move reflects growing financial pressure on Bitcoin miners amid falling hashprice and rising competition.

What Happened?

Cango Inc., a global Bitcoin mining firm, announced that it has completed the sale of 4,451 BTC on the open market for approximately $305 million in USDT, using the full proceeds to partially repay a Bitcoin-collateralized loan. The transaction, approved by the company’s board, is part of a broader strategy to strengthen its financial foundation while funding an ambitious expansion into artificial intelligence.

Strategic Bitcoin Sale Aims to Ease Debt and Boost AI Investment

Cango’s sale stands out as one of the largest confirmed liquidations by a mining firm so far in 2026. It follows a smaller divestment in January of around 550 BTC and brings the company’s total BTC holdings down to just over 3,000. The company stated that this financial maneuver was necessary to reduce its leverage and improve operational flexibility.

Bitcoin miners are facing growing financial pressure in early 2026 due to:

• Subdued Bitcoin prices that remain below profitable mining thresholds.
• Rising mining difficulty and stiff competition.
• A decline in hashprice, or daily revenue per computing unit, which is squeezing even the most efficient operators.

This environment is forcing miners like Cango to sell their reserves to meet financial obligations, a trend mirrored by other players like Riot Platforms and Cleanspark, both of whom sold BTC in January. Marathon Digital also transferred a large amount of Bitcoin to trading platforms, signaling possible liquidation, though it has not confirmed the sale.

Cango’s AI Transformation Begins

The Bitcoin sale is not just about shoring up finances. Cango is making a strategic pivot to AI compute infrastructure, leveraging its global, grid-connected sites. The company plans to deploy modular GPU-powered nodes that can provide distributed inference capacity, targeting unmet demand from small and mid-sized enterprises.

This new AI strategy includes:

• Containerized GPU compute nodes for quick deployment.
• A software orchestration platform to manage distributed resources.
• An asset-light model aimed at faster scalability compared to traditional data centers.

To lead this transformation, Cango appointed Jack Jin as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of its AI division. Jin brings a strong background in AI/ML infrastructure, high-performance GPU systems, and scalable computing from his previous work at Zoom Communications, where he built infrastructure to support large language models and elastic on-demand inference systems.

Pressure on Proof-of-Work Miners Is Mounting

Cango’s divestment also reflects a broader shift in market dynamics. Post-halving profitability pressures have intensified, and debt servicing is forcing infrastructure-heavy mining companies to rethink their models. Selling off core BTC holdings is often seen as a last resort, suggesting that the company is now transitioning from accumulation mode to survival mode.

This shift is also driving investor attention toward capital-efficient sectors like AI and Web3, which offer higher margins and fewer overhead risks than legacy mining operations. Projects like the AI-powered SUBBD Token, which merges Ethereum smart contracts and content monetization, are starting to attract funds previously tied to traditional miners.

CoinLaw’s Takeaway

I’ve seen these pivots before, but Cango’s move is bold and deliberate. Selling more than half your Bitcoin treasury is never easy, especially in a market where miners are expected to hold through thick and thin. But given the post-halving realities and brutal hashprice compression, this isn’t capitulation, it’s smart adaptation. In my experience, the miners that survive are the ones who evolve, and Cango’s AI bet could be the lifeline it needs. If they execute this right, they’ll be more than just another mining firm riding Bitcoin’s waves, they’ll be helping to build the infrastructure for the AI-driven web.

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