In the capital-intensive industry of Bitcoin mining, "heavy assets" seem to be the default survival rule—building self-owned mining farms, purchasing land, and laying down power facilities, with investments often reaching hundreds of millions of dollars becoming the industry threshold. However, CANGO has constructed an industry-leading hash rate scale of 50EH/s in a short period with a unique light asset model, redefining the growth path of mining enterprises.

The operational strategy of prioritizing strategic procurement of second-hand mining machines for rapid low-cost hash rate expansion and ramp-up not only avoids the capital traps of traditional models but also demonstrates remarkable flexibility amid industry cycle fluctuations. With stock prices stabilizing and rebounding, continuous improvement in fundamentals, and deepening penetration in the institutional sector, CANGO has grown from being overlooked six months ago to becoming a potential target that cannot be ignored in the industry, with its future expected value warranting in-depth exploration.

CANGO's "Light Asset" Model: Rent Instead of Build, Lighter, Cheaper, Stronger

CANGO's light asset model is reflected in "ownership"—initially, it does not focus on controlling the ownership of mining farms but rather on the efficient operation of hash rate. This allows the company to invest only about $400 million in mining farms initially, far below the asset scale of vertically integrated mining companies like MARA and CLSK. The key to this low-cost expansion lies in replacing the traditional self-built model with "leasing + hosting."

Specifically, CANGO's hash rate distribution adopts a "global layout + core focus" strategy. In the first batch of 32EH hash rate, 40% is located in the United States (distributed across 13 states), 35% in Ethiopia, and the remainder scattered across the Middle East, South America, and Canada; the second batch of 18EH hash rate will concentrate over 80% in the United States, ultimately resulting in over 60% of the total 50EH hash rate landing in the U.S. The carriers of these hash rates—mining facilities—are almost entirely obtained through leasing, combined with a 1.5-year service agreement signed with Bitmain, with third parties responsible for on-site maintenance and operation, further reducing the fixed costs of a self-built team.

The capital efficiency difference brought by this model is extremely significant. Traditional mining companies require an investment of $200-300 million to build a 100MW mining farm, while CANGO compresses the capital expenditure per unit of hash rate to one-third of the industry average by leasing existing facilities. This insistence on "light assets" allows it to achieve hash rate accumulation that traditional companies would take 3-5 years to realize within 18 months. As of July, CANGO has deployed a hash rate of 50EH/s, producing 650.5 coins that month, with a total holding of 4529.7 coins. Based on the current BTC price, the market value of its holdings is approximately $520 million, showcasing strong asset accumulation capability under the light asset model.

CANGO's light asset model is not merely about "saving money," but a systematic strategy adapted to the characteristics of the Bitcoin mining industry, with advantages forming a closed loop in three dimensions: cycle fluctuation, cost control, and strategic adjustment.

In terms of cycle capture, Bitcoin's halving mechanism every four years creates a strong cyclicality in the industry, and whether hash rate deployment can be completed before halving directly determines the survival space of enterprises. CANGO's leasing model compresses the hash rate expansion cycle from the traditional self-built 12-18 months to 3-6 months, precisely capturing the hash rate window from 2024 to 2028. The company's management stated: "BTC mining is a relatively short-cycle industry, and the goal is to form sufficient hash rate as much as possible before halving, as the scale of hash rate is the main driving force for generating Bitcoin." This ability to "quickly enter and exit" allows it to maintain stable growth in hash rate amid Bitcoin price fluctuations in 2025, laying the foundation for subsequent earnings.

I also noticed that in July, CANGO's effective hash rate efficiency at the 50E scale was only 80%, significantly lower than the operational efficiency of 94%-95% for the first batch of 32E hash rate, indicating a clear expectation gap. This may partly stem from local mining machines in the U.S. needing short downtime adjustments due to excessive power load. In fact, electricity costs in the U.S. are relatively high, and appropriate adjustments can help extend the lifespan of mining machines and enhance long-term profits; on the other hand, CANGO currently adopts a fully hosted operation model, meaning that longer operational chains may require longer paths for efficiency improvements. I believe this is an area the company will focus on enhancing in the coming months. If effective measures can raise the overall effective efficiency of the 50E hash rate back to 95%, the monthly coin production could reach 750, potentially surpassing leading mining companies including Marathon and CleanSpark, and this potential for efficiency improvement has yet to be fully priced in by the market.

Regarding CANGO's recent acquisition of mining farms, many speculate that the company will abandon its light asset model and gradually shift towards integrated operations. I believe this is more about preparing for the subsequent extension of "energy + HPC" business. The mining farm chosen by CANGO is located in Georgia, which has high power availability and strong stability, indicating that CANGO aims to gradually enhance its operational stability by controlling energy. Additionally, after the acquisition is completed, site upgrades will become possible, which is beneficial for the company to further prepare strategically for a future transition to high-computing centers for AI.

In terms of cost control, the light asset model achieves dual optimization through "scale negotiation + leveraged payment," which also has market perception biases. On one hand, the company quickly establishes an objective hash rate scale by purchasing second-hand mining machines with relatively low capital expenditure. Although under the hosted operation model, its cash cost per coin is higher than the industry average, its all-in cost per coin is competitive due to significantly lower depreciation expenses. On another level, as the hash rate scale expands, the company's bargaining power continues to increase. It is reported that the company has initiated renewal negotiations with some hosting mining farms, receiving positive feedback on reducing electricity and hosting fees. With the emergence of scale effects and the realization of some self-operation, there is significant room for cost compression in this area.

Furthermore, the "electricity loan" model is another significant expectation gap. CANGO's electricity costs are not paid immediately but through loans, with only interest paid monthly, greatly enhancing cash flow flexibility. More critically, Bitcoin can be used as a long-term collateral asset to obtain loans, allowing leverage to be maximized in a bull market. There are already voices comparing CANGO to "MicroStrategy," but its stock price still reflects mining stock trends, and this cognitive difference is precisely where the expectation gap lies.

Strategic flexibility is the essence of the light asset model. Unlike the "high exit costs" dilemma faced by self-built mining farms, CANGO can adjust its hash rate distribution at any time based on regional policies and changes in electricity costs. For example, in response to the rise of AI computing power, CANGO can quickly deploy AI mining boxes using existing leased sites. This characteristic of "not binding assets but binding resources" makes it possible for it to transition from a pure mining enterprise to a composite transformation model of "mining revenue + AI service fees + green electricity trading."

Potential Stock Logic: The Leap from Hash Rate Scale to Value Reassessment

The core of judging CANGO as a potential stock lies in understanding the value release path behind its light asset model—the hash rate scale built with low capital expenditure is just the starting point, while businesses derived from hash rate, such as energy management and AI computing power leasing, will open up valuation ceilings, containing enormous expectation gaps.

The current hash rate scale of 50EH/s has already placed CANGO in the top tier of global mining companies, but this is merely the "lower limit" of its value. According to plans, the company is advancing three major value upgrade directions: first, by selectively acquiring low-cost mining farms, gradually achieving "partial self-operation," improving its operational stability and reducing energy costs while maintaining light asset characteristics; second, exploring green electricity storage projects to transform energy costs from "expenditure items" to "income items"; third, initiating "energy + HPC" pilot projects to explore the deep extension boundaries of business using existing sites and operational experience.

The company will first find ways to absorb hash rate from the demand side before advancing projects, and it has already identified some potential partners. CANGO is not simply establishing power sources but is seeking to build computing facilities similar to IDC using power resources to extend the industrial chain, theoretically offering vast imaginative space. Personally, I judge that the previously agreed "if the market value reaches $1.82 billion and remains above for more than 60 days, approximately 45 million shares will be issued" may be highly related to actions in these areas, representing another layer of expectation gap that has not been fully recognized.

From the perspective of market recognition, CANGO is gradually entering the sights of mainstream overseas institutions, and quantitative changes are expected to trigger qualitative changes. In terms of institutional penetration, CANGO has not only successfully entered the stock pool of Wall Street institution H.C. Wainwright but has also been included in the research pool of the renowned British investment management and financial data analysis company Farside Investors, replacing HUT8, which holds over 10,000 BTC. The logic behind this is that the growth potential demonstrated by CANGO's operational side has far exceeded that of traditional mining companies, and the growth story of "young CANGO" has just begun.

In the current context of the cryptocurrency industry undergoing cyclical reshuffling, CANGO's light asset model proves that true competitiveness does not lie in how many assets one owns, but in the efficiency of mobilizing resources. This operational philosophy, based on leasing, leveraging as a tool, and flexibility as the core, not only supports it in becoming the leading enterprise in current hash rate scale but also equips it with the potential to traverse cycles during the industry's transformation period. For investors, CANGO's value lies not only in the hash rate figure of 50EH/s and the inventory of 4529.7 BTC but also in its innovative ability to redefine industry rules and the many expectation gaps that have yet to be fully priced in by the market—this is precisely the core characteristic of a potential stock.

This article is from a submission and does not represent the views of BlockBeats.

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