Bitcoin mining stocks Canaan, American Bitcoin and Cango jumped as much as 67% in a single week as Bitcoin rallied 23% and briefly topped $79,000. A short squeeze that liquidated over $1.6 billion in positions, plus a Treasury liquidity move and a favorable White House meeting on crypto rules, drove the surge. Miners with direct Bitcoin exposure outpaced AI-linked infrastructure plays in the process.
Shares of Canaan Inc., American Bitcoin Corp. and Cango Inc. surged as much as 67% in a single week, riding a 23% Bitcoin rally that briefly pushed the cryptocurrency past $79,000. BlocksBridge Consulting, in its Miner Weekly report, attributed the outperformance to one factor: direct exposure to Bitcoin.
What drove the rally
On August 19, the US Treasury announced it would double liquidity-support buybacks for longer-dated Treasury securities, loosening financial conditions and lifting risk assets broadly. A White House meeting on cryptocurrency regulations was also favorably received.
A short squeeze then ripped through the market, liquidating more than $1.6 billion in positions within 24 hours. Forced short covering pushed prices higher, which triggered further liquidations, which pushed prices higher still. As leveraged bets on Bitcoin's price, mining stocks amplified the move.
The companies behind the surge
Canaan Inc. (NASDAQ: CAN), a Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer, saw shares jump between 41% and 67% during the rally. The company has been accumulating Bitcoin on its own balance sheet, holding between 1,700 and 1,900 BTC as of its latest updates before the surge.
American Bitcoin Corp. (NASDAQ: ABTC), tied to Hut 8 with involvement from Eric Trump, crossed 7,000 BTC in reserves earlier in 2026 and kept accumulating into the rally. At $79,000 per Bitcoin, that stash was worth north of $550 million.
Cango Inc. (NYSE: CANG), originally a China-based auto-lending firm, pivoted to Bitcoin mining in late 2024. It acquired 50 EH/s of mining capacity and by late 2025 held over 7,500 BTC before conducting partial sales to reduce debt, while also moving toward AI infrastructure.
The AI pitch takes a back seat
Public Bitcoin miners have spent the better part of two years pitching themselves as AI infrastructure plays, with several major miners investing heavily in converting or building out capacity for high-performance computing. Revenue from AI operations remains comparatively low across the sector, however. During this rally, pure Bitcoin exposure, not AI diversification, drove the outperformance.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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