In 2011, blockchain technology entered China, and the first industry to be deeply influenced was mining. But how did the mining circle initially rise? Two young men must be mentioned: Zhang Nangeng and Jiang Xinyu, who would go on to build a multi-billion-dollar empire in the mining industry.
The story begins in 2011. At the time, Zhang Nangeng was pursuing his graduate and doctoral studies at Beihang University. He had a hobby—he loved watching anime. By his own account, he watched nearly 500 episodes of anime a year. Anime fans tend to be passionate and somewhat idealistic, traits that would later shape his entrepreneurial journey.
By chance, Zhang came across Bitcoin. Coincidentally, in June of that year, the world’s first FPGA miner was released. Before this, mining was done using computer CPUs and GPUs, with some differences in computing power but no generational gap. The emergence of FPGA miners, however, increased mining efficiency by tens or even hundreds of times, completely revolutionizing the industry.
Given this situation—and considering Zhang’s technical background (he had worked for three years at a aerospace technology company before returning to academia)—as well as his need to cover living expenses, Zhang decided to enter the industry. He began developing FPGA miners in his lab at Beihang University.
To promote his new miners, Zhang frequently appeared on the Bitcoin forum bitcointalk under the username "ngzhang." Over time, "Pumpkin Zhang" (his online alias) gained fame in the community. Normally, Zhang’s path would have been to graduate and find a job, but one event changed his trajectory—entrepreneurship.
In 2012, an American organization called Butterfly Labs announced on the Bitcoin forum that they were developing ASIC miners, which would be far more powerful than FPGA miners and would not be sold publicly. This meant that if Butterfly Labs succeeded, they would control most of Bitcoin’s hashrate, monopolizing the entire network.
Seeing that Butterfly Labs might destroy Bitcoin’s original decentralized ideals, Zhang’s passionate and rebellious nature kicked in. Upon hearing the news, he decided to develop his own ASIC miners to prevent this potential monopoly. He immediately applied for a leave of absence from his professor, but the university refused. The next day, Zhang made the bold decision to drop out and start his own business. Reflecting later, he said, "I got into mining machines because I felt Butterfly Labs was deceiving everyone. If I didn’t step up, the entire mining industry would be doomed."
Whether by luck or talent, Zhang won this life-or-death race for Bitcoin’s future. "Pumpkin Zhang" created the world’s first ASIC miner before Butterfly Labs, naming it "Avalon" (a reference to the ultimate defensive weapon in the anime Fate). In April 2013, Zhang and his friend Li Jiaxuan founded Canaan Creative, and their first batch of Avalon miners sold out immediately.
With this, Zhang Nangeng became the first "dragon slayer" in mining history, transforming mining from a simple game into a feast of capital and computing power. However, as Zhang succeeded, his rival, "Fried Cat" Jiang Xinyu, was also making moves—and Fried Cat would soon usher in the golden age of the mining circle.
