Canaan Inc. announced on February 9, 2021, that Quanfu Hong had resigned as chief financial officer for personal reasons, effective that day1. Tong He, Canaan's director of finance since July 2020, became acting CFO immediately, the Beijing-based company said in the release. CoinDesk reported on February 9, 2021, that the Nasdaq-listed bitcoin mining machine manufacturer had named He to the role on the day Hong left2.
Three of Canaan's 7 leadership moves on the record came in 2021
Leadership moves CryptoLately has verified at Canaan, by year
- 2021: 3
- 2020: 4
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 4 |
| 2021 | 3 |
Nine executive exits on the record in 2021
Executive exits CryptoLately has verified, by year
- 2021: 9
- 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2019 | 6 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2022 | 9 |
| 2023 | 8 |
| 2024 | 11 |
| 2025 | 20 |
The move
Canaan's own release gave the reason in one line: Hong “resigned from the Chief Financial Officer position, effective February 9, 2021, for personal reasons”1. Nangeng Zhang, Canaan's chairman and chief executive, spoke on behalf of the company and its board. “Speaking on behalf of the Company and the board, I would like to thank Mr. Hong for his valuable service and contributions to the Company. We wish him the best for his future endeavors,” Zhang said. Zhang also addressed He directly in the same statement, thanking him “for accepting the acting CFO role and continuing to provide us with his managerial know-how”. CoinDesk's report carried the same framing, writing that "Hong's resignation was due to 'personal reasons,' the Beijing-based company said"2.
Before and after at Canaan
Hong had held the CFO seat at a company trading on Nasdaq under the ticker CAN. Canaan's release stated the terms of his exit and left out the date of his hire. His background, by contrast, filled most of the release's second paragraph. Prior roles included chief financial officer at Diankeyun, a Beijing technology firm, and deputy chief financial officer at iReader Technology. Lenovo Group counted among his employers too. He led business unit finance there, and he earned a master's degree in commerce finance in Australia1. Zhang's statement said the company expected He "to ensure a smooth transition and move our operations continuously forward". CoinDesk reported that Canaan had yet to set a date for its next earnings report at the time of Hong's exit2.
What came next
By March 19, 2026, Canaan's chief financial officer was James Cheng, a different name from He. CCN reported that day that Cheng spoke at DC Summit 2026 about Canaan's fourth quarter of 2025. He called it "quite an interesting quarter," shaped by a historically high Bitcoin price followed by a sharp drop in the same quarter3. Cheng told the outlet that Canaan's global electricity cost ran about 4.2 cents per kilowatt-hour. That cost, he said, let the company keep running machines as margins tightened across the mining industry. The pages cited here show the title moving from Hong to He in February 2021 and resting with Cheng by March 19, 2026, and leave open when and why it passed from He to Cheng.
Sources
- Canaan Inc., "Canaan Inc. Announces Resignation of Chief Financial Officer," GlobeNewswire, February 9, 2021, https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/02/09/2171996/0/en/Canaan-Inc-Announces-Resignation-of-Chief-Financial-Officer.html
- Zack Voell, "Canaan CFO Resigns Citing 'Personal Reasons'," CoinDesk, February 9, 2021, https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/02/09/canaan-cfo-resigns-citing-personal-reasons
- Giuseppe Ciccomascolo, "Bitcoin Mining Profits Under Pressure as Costs Rise, Canaan CFO Warns at DC Summit 2026," CCN.com, March 19, 2026, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiowFBVV95cUxPR3lKbXpqNG9LMG9hSlp4eTJGZmwyNENxYVpha0xlUkQxOGsxaFlYbXB3SlZBOHBnNUVLa1JNbFJiZURQMUQxQ0c2UGlxT3VORFMyRnZuYS1yWXZ3VmFLaEREQzlKZ01xam11S0c1M19GVmdPcGFsRXA3S3g3RGkzaExQeEFpNS1tdWh2OVd3TlhPZXdfc2xFOXhpLS1rM1FCbEs4?oc=5