The firm used all of the proceeds to repay a portion of a Bitcoin-collateralized loan.
“The company is executing a strategic pivot by utilizing its globally accessed, grid-connected infrastructure to provide distributed compute capacity for the AI industry,” Cango said in a statement.
In addition to the sale, the firm also announced Jack Jin, formerly of video conferencing software firm Zoom, as its new CTO to help build out its AI business line.
Shares in the Dallas-based mining firm are down nearly 3% following the news, recently changing hands below $0.95. Shares have fallen 62% in the last six months.
“Cango remains committed to its mining operations, with a continued focus on enhancing mining economics and seeking an optimal balance between hashrate scale and operational efficiency,” the firm’s announcement reads. “The company will be guided by a disciplined framework for asset allocation in pursuit of long-term value creation.”
At the time of the sale, Cango CEO Paul Yu telegraphed that the firm would be offloading more Bitcoin in the future.
“Starting this month, we will selectively sell a portion of newly mined Bitcoin to support the expansion of our inference platform and other near-term growth initiatives,” said Yu in a statement. “This tactical flexibility will allow us to seize new business opportunities and manage our liquidity with greater agility."
A representative for the firm did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.
