Cango Inc. (NYSE: CANG) executed a massive sell-off of its Bitcoin holdings in the first quarter of 2026, disposing of 6,451 BTC between February and March, generating approximately $442 million in net proceeds. All proceeds were used to fully repay the company's Bitcoin-collateralized loans. Simultaneously, the Shanghai-based firm secured $75 million in fresh capital through insider equity investments and a convertible note from DL Holdings, earmarked to repurpose its mining infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI) computing services, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Two Tranches of Bitcoin Sales Axed Debt Exposure
The first sale occurred on February 7–8, 2026, when Cango sold 4,451 BTC on the open market for net proceeds of about $305 million (settled in USDT), implying an average price of roughly $68,524 per BTC. The transaction, announced on February 9 after board approval, was used to partially repay an outstanding Bitcoin-collateralized loan. Post-sale, Cango retained 3,313.4 BTC in corporate reserves and produced 454.83 BTC that month.
In March, Cango sold an additional 2,000 BTC to clear the remaining balance of its crypto-backed debt. Based on market reports showing a price range of $68,000–$69,000, this second sale yielded nearly $137 million. The company did not disclose the exact average price in its April 8 operational update. By March 31, Cango's Bitcoin holdings had fallen to just 1,025.69 BTC, down from over 7,500 BTC before the sales. The outstanding balance of Bitcoin-backed loans dropped to $30.6 million, sharply reducing the company's cryptocurrency debt risk.
Hashrate Declines as Cost Efficiency Improves
Alongside the Bitcoin liquidation, Cango's mining hashrate contracted significantly. At the end of March, the company reported total operational hashrate of 37.01 EH/s, consisting of 27.98 EH/s from self-mining and 9.02 EH/s from hosted hashrate. This represented a roughly 26% decline from the peak of about 50 EH/s reached in late 2025. Cango said the reduction was intentional, aimed at improving cash margins rather than pursuing raw hashrate.
Cost per Bitcoin showed marked improvement: the average cash cost per BTC mined in March was $68,215.83, down 19.3% from $84,552 in Q4 2025. The improvement was attributed to retiring older hardware, deploying more efficient Bitmain S21 and S21XP miners, relocating capacity to low-cost power regions, and implementing revenue-sharing arrangements at some high-cost sites.
$75M Capital Injection Fuels AI Transition
To support the pivot toward AI computing without relying entirely on Bitcoin sales, Cango closed approximately $65 million in insider equity financing on March 31, funded by management and related parties in USDT. Additionally, the company received a $10 million convertible note from DL Holdings. Combined with roughly $10.5 million in earlier equity capital raised in February, Cango secured over $75 million in new funding during Q1 2026, specifically designated for expanding its Ecohash AI computing platform—a GPU-based, modular, containerized AI inference service.
Cango entered Bitcoin mining only in November 2024, gradually winding down its legacy auto financing and used-car export businesses. Within 15 months, the firm had expanded to over 40 sites across North America, the Middle East, South America, and East Africa. Now it aims to repurpose those facilities for AI inference computing, leveraging existing grid-connected power and site infrastructure to serve SME clients. The company says the pivot will improve asset utilization rates and diversify revenue streams.
Financial Performance and NYSE Compliance Risk
For fiscal year 2025, Cango reported revenue of approximately $688 million but a net loss of about $453 million, driven by mining site construction, Bitcoin price volatility, and transition expenses. In early April 2026, the New York Stock Exchange notified Cango that its stock had traded below $1.00 per share for 30 consecutive trading days, triggering a continued listing standard review. The company has six months to regain compliance. Analysts view the Bitcoin liquidation and debt reduction as prudent financial management amid the transition, though the stock price remains under pressure.
Going forward, Cango intends to continue Bitcoin mining but will prioritize cash margin per site over total hashrate. As the AI business scales, the success of the pivot will depend on effective technology migration and client acquisition. The Ecohash platform is expected to become the company's primary growth engine, but the shift from crypto miner to AI compute provider is still in its early stages.