Canaan is using part of its crypto treasury to support buybacks as its ADS price sits far below Nasdaq’s minimum bid requirement, a blunt capital move that says as much about the stock as it does about the miner.
- $130 million digital asset treasury as of Aug. 3
- 1, 915 BTC and 3, 952 ETH held at the end of June
- Existing buyback program allows up to $30 million in repurchases
- Nasdaq compliance deadline now runs to Jan. 11, 2027
Canaan, the Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin miner, has authorized management to monetize a portion of its digital asset treasury to help fund share repurchases. The company has not said how much Bitcoin or Ethereum it plans to sell, or when any sales might happen, so this is a signal of intent, not a fully disclosed playbook.
The timing is not subtle. Canaan’s ADSs have been trading well under Nasdaq’s $1 minimum bid-price rule, and the company is under pressure to restore compliance by closing at or above $1 for ten consecutive business days. Nasdaq granted Canaan an additional 180 days on July 15, 2026, pushing the deadline to Jan. 11, 2027.
For a miner, this is the classic ugly but rational tradeoff: turn some crypto holdings into cash, use that cash to buy back stock, and try to make a deeply discounted equity look a little less ridiculous. It can be smart capital allocation. It can also be a band-aid if the market’s skepticism is rooted in something deeper than a low share price.
What Canaan actually said
The company’s case is straightforward. Chairman and CEO Nangeng Zhang said Canaan believes the market is not fully valuing the business.
“At current trading levels, we believe Canaan’s market value does not fully reflect the value of our digital asset holdings, cash position, and the strength of our underlying business.”
That is management’s view, not a law of nature. Markets can stay stubborn longer than executives like, especially when the stock has already been beaten into the floorboards.
Canaan said the repurchases fall under an existing authorization approved effective Dec. 12, 2025, allowing the company to buy back up to $30 million of American depositary shares, or ADSs, and/or Class A ordinary shares over a 12-month period.
It also said future repurchases will depend on share price, broader market conditions, working capital requirements, and board approval. The purchases may be made through open-market transactions, block trades, or privately negotiated deals.
One thing Canaan did not say: whether it intends to use the full authorization. Another thing it did not say: exactly how much of its BTC and ETH reserves it plans to sell. In other words, the company has opened the door, but it has not told investors how hard it plans to walk through it.
The treasury behind the move
As of Aug. 3, Canaan said its digital asset treasury was worth about $130 million. At the end of June, the company held 1, 915 BTC and 3, 952 ETH.
That matters because it gives Canaan a real treasury base to work with, not just a press release and a wish. But the headline value does not tell the full story. Some holdings can be tied up, pledged, or otherwise less available than they look on paper, so treasury value is not the same thing as free cash in a drawer.
The broader point is simple: miners often sit on a strange mix of assets, Bitcoin, other crypto, cash, debt, and equipment, and then have to decide whether to hold, sell, or finance against those holdings. That is not exactly the same as a tech company with a normal balance sheet and a boring life. Crypto miners rarely get boring. The sector seems constitutionally incapable of it.
Bitcoin as capital, not just a reserve
Canaan is not only drawing on past reserves. It is still producing Bitcoin through mining operations, which gives it a continuing source of liquid crypto to work with.
In June, Canaan said it mined 64 BTC. After operating costs and BTC received as payment for mining-machine sales, its Bitcoin balance increased by 49 BTC over the month.
Zhang framed that as a strength, saying the company’s mining operations provide a continuing source of Bitcoin that can be used as capital.
That is the pragmatist’s view of mining: if the stock market will not reward you for the BTC sitting on the balance sheet, you can turn some of it into buybacks, cash, or other uses that management thinks will generate more value. Bitcoin maximalists may not love that framing, but corporate finance is not a purity contest. It is capital allocation under pressure.
The downside is just as real. Selling BTC and ETH to support buybacks reduces crypto exposure. If the coins later rip higher while the stock remains weak, the company may have traded one volatile asset for another in a way that looks clever only in hindsight, the most dishonest accountant in finance.
Why the stock matters so much
Canaan’s ADSs were trading near $0.19 on Aug. 6, far below Nasdaq’s minimum bid requirement. Each ADS represents 15 Class A ordinary shares, which is why the U.S.-traded price needs to be understood as the wrapper around the underlying equity, not a one-to-one ordinary share price.
To stay listed, Canaan must keep its closing bid price at or above $1 for at least ten consecutive business days. Nasdaq’s additional 180-day extension gives the company more time, but not a free pass.
That distinction matters. A compliance extension is breathing room, not a cure. If the share price stays depressed, the problem does not disappear just because the calendar gets friendlier.
Operations still have to carry the load
The buyback plan also sits against a backdrop of uneven mining performance and ongoing efforts to improve efficiency.
In May, Canaan said its North American non-joint venture fleet efficiency reached 17.9 joules per terahash, an 11% improvement from a year earlier and a roughly 4% gain from the 18.7 J/TH recorded in March and April. Lower J/TH is better, because it means the machines are doing more hash work for each unit of power consumed.
For readers less familiar with mining terms: exahashes per second, or EH/s, measures computing power. More hashrate generally means more mining capacity, though power costs, uptime, and hardware quality all matter too.
By the end of May, Canaan had 10.05 EH/s of installed non-joint venture capacity, though only 6.47 EH/s was operating after a hosting agreement expired. By June, non-joint venture operating hashrate had fallen further to 3.36 EH/s, while joint venture operations recovered to 4.09 EH/s after wildfire-related disruption at facilities in West Texas.
Canaan also reported an average all-in power cost of $0.043/kWh in June. That number matters because electricity is the floor under every mining business. If power costs are ugly, the rest of the spreadsheet starts lying to you.
So the buyback move is not happening in isolation. Canaan is trying to manage a weak stock price while also improving operating efficiency and keeping its mining machine humming. That is a lot of moving parts for a company whose market value is still struggling to clear penny-stock territory.
The real bet here
Canaan’s wager is that the market is undervaluing three things at once: its crypto holdings, its cash position, and its underlying business. If that view is right, using some BTC and ETH to buy back shares could be a rational way to shrink the discount.
But there are obvious caveats.
First, the company has not disclosed how much crypto it will sell or when. Without that, the move is more directional than decisive. Second, buybacks can help per-share metrics and sentiment, but they do not automatically fix structural weakness in the business. Third, if too much of the treasury is encumbered or needed for working capital, the amount actually available for repurchases may be much smaller than the headline treasury figure suggests.
That is the part people often gloss over when they see a miner with a chunky crypto stack and assume the balance sheet is all upside. It is not. The value is real, but the accessibility of that value is what matters.
There is also a reputational tradeoff. Selling crypto to support the share price may look disciplined to some investors and defensive to others. If the market thinks the company is using its treasury to paper over a deeper problem, the move may buy time without buying trust. And trust is the asset that never appears on the balance sheet until it vanishes.
Key questions and takeaways
-
Why is Canaan selling crypto?
Canaan says it may monetize part of its digital asset treasury to help fund share repurchases and support a stock price that is far below Nasdaq’s minimum bid requirement. -
How much crypto will Canaan sell?
The company has not disclosed the amount, and it also has not said when any sales will happen. -
What is the Nasdaq issue?
Canaan must keep its closing bid price at or above $1 for ten consecutive business days. Nasdaq extended the deadline to Jan. 11, 2027. -
What does one ADS represent?
Each ADS represents 15 Class A ordinary shares. -
Is this automatically bullish?
No. It may help sentiment and per-share metrics, but it will not magically fix weak fundamentals or erase delisting pressure. -
What is the biggest unknown?
The scale and timing of any crypto sales. Without that, it is hard to judge how much firepower Canaan is actually willing to use.
Canaan’s move is pragmatic, not romantic. It is a miner using crypto holdings as deployable capital because the market has priced the stock like it does not believe the story. That may prove smart if the buybacks are credible and the business keeps improving. It may also prove to be a temporary patch if the underlying equity remains broken.
Either way, the message is clear: Canaan would rather turn some of its Bitcoin and Ethereum into action than keep waiting for the market to wake up and notice the valuation gap.
Canaan Inc. Granted Additional 180-Day Period by Nasdaq to
Canaan Hits North America Mining Efficiency Record as
