Fan Gao opened a talk at Mining Disrupt Fort Lauderdale 2025, recorded March 25–27, 2025, by asking who in the room knew Canaan. Gao, head of mining operations at the company, had come to sell something specific: hosting, joint mining and long contracts with American sites, built on machines that customers, Gao said, report need fewer repairs than rival models.
Canaan makes ASIC mining machines. Gao described it as the only publicly traded company among the three major manufacturers, and credited Canaan's founder and CEO with inventing the ASIC miner. The first machine, the Avalon 1, dates to 2013. Over the 12 years since, the line has run to the Avalon 15, and Gao named the A15 XP as the popular model at the time.
From banking to a 90% margin
Gao came to mining from finance, with more than 20 years in financial services, 13 of them at Citi. The move into Bitcoin mining came as China shut the industry down and many operators headed for the United States. One of the large miners hired Gao to run its North American business.
I remember back then my ex-boss when he hired me he was telling me Fan, our profit margin is about 90%.
Fan Gao · 1:41
That boss did not expect the margin to last and said a fall to 75% would not surprise him. Gao returned to the story near the end of the talk and said that player is no longer around. The lesson Gao drew was about expectations:
So, if you are being speculative and want to make quick money, you probably cannot.
Fan Gao · 11:04
Bullish, with caveats
Just before going on stage, Gao said, Bitcoin was trading at about $86K to $87K, lower than most people in the room would like. Gao would love to see $120K or even $150K, and pointed out that the price has historically gone up after each halving. The trade war, Federal Reserve interest rates and the stock market were all putting some pressure on the price, but Gao said Canaan is bullish for the long term and has placed its bet.
The challenge, in Gao's account, is that global hashrate keeps rising as more facilities are built and manufacturers ship faster machines. That makes current equipment a requirement for any miner who wants a reasonable return on the investment.
Why the hashrate moved to the US
Before the Chinese government shut crypto mining down, Gao said, 70% to 80% of crypto mining was in China, and some estimates put it at 90%. Miners then spread around the world, and the United States became the center of the industry, at 40% and, by Gao's count at the time of the talk, close to 50%.
Gao gave three reasons. The infrastructure is strong. Power is not the cheapest, but it is competitive even next to developing countries, and many states have friendly policies toward mining. And, in Gao's words, the US has the most developed capital market, which matters when a miner raises money. Gao added that this point had been left off the slides.
If you want to do fundraising, especially when you are facing [institutional investors], you're saying I have this much of hashrate in the United States, they'll come to you.
Fan Gao · 5:03
Labor costs and repairs
The main drawback Gao named was labor. People are expensive in the US, so a machine that needs fewer repairs raises efficiency, lowers cost and improves profit. Gao said Canaan's miners perform well in hot weather, and pointed to West Texas, where sites are dusty and hot:
When they're dusty and it's hot, you don't even need a water curtain for [Canaan's miners].
Fan Gao · 6:11
Water, Gao added, usually damages machines over time. Georgia and other popular sites were named as places where that gives Canaan's hardware an advantage.
What miners bring to the grid
Gao also made the case for mining's local benefits: jobs, and stability for grids that have become less steady as more renewable energy comes on. Mining, Gao said, can serve the grid as a kind of storage, a large load that switches off on demand, which makes the arrangement good for the industry, the power grid and the community.
Where do you find large load that can shut down at any time we want to?
Fan Gao · 7:00
The offer: hosting, joint mining and spare parts
Gao runs Canaan's mining business and described its offers. One is fixed-cost hosting. The other is joint mining, in which Canaan and a partner share the costs and split the coins. Buyers of machines were sent to Canaan's sales team. Besides air-cooled miners, the company makes immersion and hydro models and boxes, and Gao offered an end-to-end package to anyone who wanted one.
Gao told a story from a site visit. The owner asked whether broken machines could be repaired by swapping hashboards between units and combining them. Gao's answer:
Yeah, I understand what you're trying to say, but you are working with a manufacturer. You don't need to do that. We have all the parts.
Fan Gao · 9:48
Canaan, Gao said, runs regional repair centers across the country for timely repairs, keeps spare parts and spare units, and will upgrade a partner's fleet when needed.
Patience as a contract term
The point Gao stressed most was patience. Canaan wants long-term partners who can work through market cycles, often more than one, and Gao wants every contract to leave both sides better off.
I don't want to squeeze the last penny out of you. If you are not profitable the relationship won't be there.
Fan Gao · 11:49
Gao traced that view to training as a young banker at Citi: when there is profit in a deal, leave some of it with the customer, and the relationship lasts year after year and generation after generation. Gao called it a principle for life.
Gao also said Canaan had just signed a large contract with a publicly traded miner that was meant to be announced at the event; the miner was not named on stage. As a chip designer, Gao added, Canaan has other units that could open opportunities for partners beyond mining.
The talk closed on a map of US sites. Gao called Texas and Georgia very important, listed Oklahoma, North and South Dakota and Kentucky, and said geographic diversity matters to Canaan:
I'm here to look for partners who has cheap power and patience.
Fan Gao · 13:20
Canaan was at booth 65 during the conference.
Bitcoin traded at $87,393 on March 25, 2025, when the session was recorded. On October 12, 2026, it was $84,041.