Mai Gang, the first investor behind global Chinese toy sensation Pop Mart, has opened up about his long-standing appreciation for Bitcoin — despite the ongoing ban on cryptocurrency in China.
Speaking with Xiao Yuzhu FM, the early backer of Pop Mart — known for its wildly popular “blind box” collectibles — discussed his inclination to pursue unconventional ideas and investments, including Bitcoin, well before it gained mainstream recognition.
Gang recalled how he began investing in Bitcoin while still a university student, using part of his allowance to buy BTC during its infancy. At the time, cryptocurrency had yet to gain significant traction or credibility among traditional investors.
“Bitcoin has been a very important chapter in my career,” Gang said in a translated interview. “At a Renmin University alumni forum, someone once asked me why I have such a special fondness for Bitcoin, even though many top economists didn’t understand or acknowledge it.”
As a student of finance, banking, and economics, Gang was intrigued by the simplicity and elegance of blockchain technology. While he found the fundamentals of Bitcoin easy to grasp, he was struck by how few investors recognized its potential.
“You don’t need a PhD to understand Bitcoin,” he said. “What matters is the ability to question, pursue, and persist in exploring essential truths — those qualities are rare and valuable.”
Despite skepticism from peers, Gang trusted his instincts — both when investing in Bitcoin and when backing Pop Mart, which has since grown into a company worth over $42.8 billion. According to CompaniesMarketCap.com, it currently ranks as the 517th most valuable company in the world.
“Whether or not others believe in you doesn’t matter. What matters is that you believe in yourself and stay true to your convictions,” he said, reflecting on his role in Pop Mart’s rise.
“You all think I’m different, but I don’t deliberately try to be. Being different isn’t the goal — what matters is standing by what you believe.”
As early as 2014, Gang predicted that Bitcoin would play a crucial role in the “great power game” of global economics. When asked to sum up the cryptocurrency in two sentences, he called it the “perfect currency” — the result of distributed algorithmic simulations by mathematicians, tech enthusiasts, and network scientists.
He also described it as a resilient digital asset, backed by the immense computing power of cutting-edge hardware — a currency that thrives not through central banks, but through code and conviction.
