In late 2024, Cango (CANG), a Chinese company best known for offering car loans, made an unexpected yet ambitious entry into the world of bitcoin mining, rapidly emerging as one of the industry’s most significant players.

Headquartered in Shanghai with a market capitalization of $363 million, Cango is in the process of acquiring 50 exahashes per second (EH/s) of mining power. Once fully operational, this acquisition will place Cango among the largest bitcoin mining firms in the world, transforming the company’s role in the cryptocurrency space.

“Many people in the bitcoin mining sector are surprised by Cango’s sudden move, as we were not widely known within the industry,” said Juliet Ye, senior communications director at Cango, in an interview with CoinDesk. “But our company has a long history of adaptation. Since our founding in 2010, we’ve diversified into new sectors multiple times.”

To secure its substantial mining power, Cango made a cash payment of $256 million to Bitmain, the well-known bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer, for the first 32 EH/s of capacity. For the remaining 18 EH/s, Cango will issue $144 million worth of shares to Golden TechGen—a company owned by former Bitmain CFO Max Hua—and other undisclosed mining equipment sellers. After this deal is finalized, Golden TechGen and the other sellers will hold around 37.8% of Cango.

This strategic shift into bitcoin mining has already proved profitable for Cango. The company’s stock price surged by more than 362% in 2024, closing the year at $4.56 per share. Ye credits the newfound interest in Cango to its pivot into mining, which has attracted significant attention the company had previously struggled to achieve.

“Being a small- to mid-cap Chinese firm listed in the U.S., we had difficulty getting noticed,” Ye said. “But our move into the bitcoin mining sector has sparked tremendous interest. It’s something we’ve never experienced before.”

Cango has long been involved in the auto financing sector, but the firm began diversifying its operations years ago. In addition to its role in facilitating car exports from China, Cango made an early investment in Li Auto, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer. The company has also explored opportunities in the renewable energy industry, and bitcoin mining became the latest venture to attract the firm.

Ye sees bitcoin mining as an opportunity to complement efforts in managing global energy consumption. “Bitcoin mining offers an effective way to balance energy grids,” she said, explaining that miners can switch off their rigs when needed, especially during periods of peak energy demand. In Texas, for example, miners are often paid to pause their operations during heatwaves or other high-demand times, which helps stabilize the local power grid.

At present, Bitcoin’s network hashrate is approximately 823 EH/s, and once Cango’s 50 EH/s come online, the company will control about 6% of the network’s total mining power. For comparison, the world’s largest publicly traded miner, MARA Holdings (MARA), was operating over 47 EH/s of mining power as of November. Other major players like CleanSpark (CLSK) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) operated at 32 EH/s and 26 EH/s, respectively.

“The ability to scale operations was a key factor in our decision to enter bitcoin mining,” Cango’s management team said in a statement to CoinDesk. “The industry is consolidating, with larger operations taking center stage as mining difficulty increases and state-of-the-art equipment becomes essential.”

However, unlike some of the larger mining firms, Cango isn’t yet managing its own facilities. Its mining rigs are located in multiple countries, including the U.S., Canada, Paraguay, and Ethiopia. The company continues to rely on Bitmain for operational management and infrastructure support as it gets acclimated to the mining industry.

“Despite entering with a large amount of computing power, we’re still new to the bitcoin mining space,” Ye explained. “We’re taking time to understand the industry’s dynamics, tax implications, and market trends. In the beginning, we’ve chosen to work with Bitmain and its experienced teams to ensure smooth operations.”