Two executives of bitcoin mining rig maker Canaan seek to buy at least $2 million worth of company shares, claiming the company is “deeply undervalued” and expecting “many more opportunities will emerge” following the foremost cryptocurrency's block-reward halving.

The Nasdaq-listed company said in a statement on Monday that Nangeng Zhang, chairman and chief executive officer of Canaan, and James Jin Cheng, the company’s chief financial officer, intend to jointly purchase no less than $2 million of the firm’s class A ordinary shares represented by American Depositary shares. "We believe that the Company is deeply undervalued, providing a rare investment opportunity for us to pursue," said Zhang in the statement. 

The executives’ move comes after the bitcoin network underwent its fourth halving last week. “Now that the fourth bitcoin halving occurred on Friday, we expect many more opportunities will emerge in the bitcoin ecosystem,” Zhang added.

Zhang continued that Canaan is “making good progress” in manufacturing its A14 series mining rigs previously ordered under contract sales, “including bulk orders from public company customers.” The company is also testing the A15 series and is developing its A16 series, according to Zhang.

Revenues shrank last year

Canaan’s annual report released last week showed that the company recorded a net loss of $414.2 million in 2023, compared to a net income of $69.9 million in 2022. 

Its total revenues — including product revenue and mining revenue — shrank by 67.5% to $211.5 million in 2023 from $651.5 million in 2022. The revenue decline was “primarily due to a decrease in the average selling price of our Bitcoin mining machines on a per Thash basis from US$40.8 per Thash in 2022 to US$8.9 per Thash in 2023, which in turn was the result of the soft demand and price drop in computing power in 2023,” the company noted.

Its mining revenue amounted to $34 million last year, up from 2022’s $32.5 million, according to the report.