Predictions for 2013: Mai Gang on BTC, currency wars, and RMB internationalization

“Bitcoin uses algorithms and mathematics to simulate the monetary properties of gold, and gradually surpasses gold at all levels of monetary properties.”  --- Mai Gang, 2013 China Shenzhen Bitcoin Technology and Industry Development Forum 

In March 2025, U.S. President Trumpsigned an executive order announcing the establishment of a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve”. The U.S. Treasury Department directly holds and manages these digital assets. This isThe world's first superpower to explicitly include Bitcoin in its sovereign reserve system.

In June 2025, the U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act to establish a global stablecoin regulatory framework, allowing the U.S. dollar to be pegged to stablecoins at a 1:1 ratio, and requiring that the exchanged dollars can only be used to purchase U.S. Treasury bonds.

As early as 2013, an early technology investor, Mai Gang, spread knowledge about Bitcoin and blockchain to young people in many cities in China, focusing on the history of currency and the world's financial landscape to explain his understanding of Bitcoin, and put forward many views that have been tested by history to this day, although at that time, there were more doubts and surprises off the field:

"Bitcoin will go through three stages, personal game, institutional game, and finally national game."

"It is recommended that the Chinese government now (2013) hold 20-30% of the global total Bitcoin as a strategic reserve."

"In the future, the US dollar will be linked to cryptocurrencies in some form." "Many countries, including the United States, will use Bitcoin as one of their national reserve currencies." At that time, most people were still arguing whether Bitcoin was a scam or whether it could be used to buy coffee, but Mai Gang had already seen the possibility of countries competing with each other over Bitcoin. Looking back today, this perspective still seems extremely forward-looking. In 2025, the executive order and bill to launch digital currency in the United States were a weather vane and watershed in the field of digital currency. At this important milestone, the editor interviewed Mr. Mai Gang again.

Q:Everyone knows your legendary story of investing in Pop Mart, but few people know that you are also one of the earliest promoters of the digital currency industry. Do you have any stories you want to share with us?

A: I co-founded Docin with Jonathan Lin in 2007. Xu Mingxing, a software engineer, quickly became the CTO of Docin. In 2012, Mingxing left Docin to start his own business. Although I was very reluctant, I still supported and invested in him wholeheartedly. His project at that time was to build a full-chain service platform in the field of food delivery. Although Mingxing is a very excellent and comprehensive entrepreneur, good steel should be used on the blade. I don’t think the food delivery field is a suitable project for him. Fortunately, we transformed into the field of digital currency trading and co-founded OKCoin (OKX), which is in line with Mingxing’s background and advantages. I believe that the industry is very clear and praises OKCoin’s status and contribution in the digital currency industry, whether it is products, marketing, or talent development and internationalization. Xu Mingxing is also an eternal pride in my heart, although I have never mentioned these stories to the media.

Q: You are the earliest evangelist and knowledge disseminator in the field of digital currency. What was your background and ideas at the beginning?

A： I started to teach young people about Bitcoin in 2013. My original intention was to spread knowledge about international finance and monetary history. I think I am still very academic because my undergraduate major is macroeconomics. The basic knowledge of money and banking, even the basic courses in undergraduate courses, is not easy for the general public to understand. I just imparted the knowledge I understood and mastered, and expressed my predictions and future beliefs. Indeed, many young people have benefited from this. More than ten years later, people I have never met sent me WeChat messages to thank me for my enlightenment to them.

Q: But this industry is also full of controversy, and there have even been illegal and irregular behaviors. What do you think?

A: The origin of digital currency is technological innovation, and technological innovation will definitely be ahead of regulation, just like today's AI explosion, which has a profound impact on society, but it also takes time to improve the regulation of the AI ​​field. In 2018, there was a wave of ICOs. At the beginning, I read several white papers carefully, expecting another blockchain innovation, but then I quickly came to the conclusion that if I am not a fool, then there is a liar sitting opposite me. I did see that this industry was in chaos, and many people were involved in it.I once again started many public speeches《ICOhas nothing to do with Bitcoin,the core problem is the lack of supervision in the process》, reminding the public of the risks. No matter if you are born in the 1990s or 1970s, we are no different in front of our common values ​​and common bottom line. We are all law-abiding citizens with moral conscience.

I remember saying a famous saying at that time,"I am not afraid of not understanding, nor am I afraid of not understanding pretending to understand. I am afraid of those who understand pretending not to understand."

I remember saying a famous saying at that time,"I am not afraid of not understanding, nor am I afraid of not understanding pretending to understand. I am afraid of those who understand pretending not to understand."

The people involved in the chaos may be stupid or greedy, but the most hateful are those who intend to defraud.

Later, I was fortunate to be elected as a professional committee member of the China Fund Industry Association. I think everyone still recognizes my public spirit and sense of responsibility.

Q:You mentioned your lonely moments as a Bitcoin trailblazer in the interview withFamily Office New Wisdom Point"The Years I Was "Abandoned" by the VC Circle". Some people may question that this may be because of your lack of industry span and knowledge, but why don't financial industry practitioners have the same understanding as you did at the time?

A: I am indeed the earliest evangelist in the Chinese investment industry who invested in and vigorously popularized Bitcoin knowledge. I remember attending a forum for Renmin University alumni one year. The host asked, "Renmin University alumni are so talented in the financial field. Why do you seem to be the first to discover and seize the great opportunity of Bitcoin?" I admit that there are too many smarter and more knowledgeable people in the investment industry. I really praise them. I think I am slower than them, and my knowledge is not as broad and complete as theirs. Fortunately, I am not a poor student, so I use a stupid method. When judging and making decisions on all things, you should ask the three most important essential core questions and then answer them clearly. The essence of Bitcoin is actually very simple, but because it spans multiple fields such as the Internet, technology and finance, it may be difficult to understand and recognize. Knowing more is good, but it may also have a side effect, that is, forgetting what is the most essential thing. When you hear a hundred kinds of voices, you have to distinguish the three most important ones. The rest may not be important, or even noise. The so-called three give birth to all things. This is the wisdom passed down by the ancient Chinese.

In 2013, I was kicked out of two mainstream VC WeChat groups because of my discussion on Bitcoin. The group members were all highly educated people. I thought my teaching method was very professional, but some people still thought I was selling something. I thought it was a discussion of professional financial knowledge and sharing an investment opportunity with everyone, but some people thought it was a scam. I felt very disappointed at the time. After all, as a social animal, everyone wants to be recognized.

Q: The United States passed the Stablecoin Act this year, and digital currency has officially entered the national game stage that you predicted more than ten years ago. As an early opinion leader in the industry, what new views and opinions do you have?

A: I don’t dare to be an opinion leader. I am incapable and unwilling to be a public intellectual, but I am a well-educated person who has seen the world. The more I travel around the world, the more I believe in China’s strength and the pride of being a Chinese. Looking back on 2013, I suggested that China should make strategic Bitcoin reserves. It was indeed a correct and forward-looking view. At present, the introduction of the US dollar stablecoin bill is another heavyweight means of international currency competition. Now countries around the world are worried about the debt repayment ability of the United States. The issuance of US dollar stablecoins provides huge purchasing power for US debt. As I said in my 2013 video, the strength of the United States lies in its repeated transformation of crises into opportunities and even changing the rules of the game.

The relevant Chinese departments should take immediate action to formulate relevant systems and bills to promote the issuance of RMB stablecoins overseas. Because the globalization of RMB is a major long-term strategy related to the well-being of the Chinese people. The circulation of physical goods made in China around the world is a testament to the strength of China's national power, but please remember that currency is also a special and highest-level commodity, which is the basic knowledge taught to us by undergraduate courses. I think this is the so-called combination of soft power and hard power.

Conclusion

More than a decade has passed, and Bitcoin has gone from grassroots to mainstream, from "hype" to system. It has not overturned the US dollar, but is gradually becoming a variable that cannot be ignored in global finance.

Mai Gang's prediction was not fully realized, but he pointed outthe logical basis of Bitcoin as an "anchor asset" in the monetary system, which has been gradually verified by reality. And his warning to the US strategic layout is also becoming a key clue to financial policy making.

This is the judgment made by an investor, observer , practitioner in the very early days of digital currency. It may not be completely correct, but it is definitely worth remembering.

“The story of Bitcoin is ultimately a story of wisdom and game between countries.”