Canaan pivots to crypto reserves to fuel $30M share buyback

The company, which held 1,915 BTC and 3,952 ETH as of June, valued its total digital asset treasury at approximately $130 million as of Aug. 3. While management has not specified the volume of crypto earmarked for liquidation, CEO Nangeng Zhang argued that current market valuations fail to account for the company’s underlying cash position and asset holdings.

Canaan faces significant pressure to bolster its stock, which traded near $0.19 on Aug. 6. Although the firm has not explicitly tied the buyback initiative to its Nasdaq listing deficiency, reducing the float through repurchases serves as a potential mechanism to provide price support. The company previously spent $2 million to buy back 2.8 million American depositary shares as of May 19.

The strategic shift toward liquidating reserves coincides with a period of operational volatility. Despite an 11% year-over-year improvement in mining efficiency, Canaan has dealt with underutilized capacity following the expiration of hosting agreements and wildfire-related disruptions in West Texas. As of June, non-joint venture operating hashrate dropped to 3.36 EH/s, even as the company continues to generate Bitcoin through ongoing mining activity.