Pop Mart's first investor admits he has a 'fondness for Bitcoin'

Mai Gang, the first investor of global Chinese toy giant Pop Mart talks about how he holds a ‘special fondness for Bitcoin’ despite the ban on cryptocurrency in his home country.

In an interview with Xiao Yuzhu FM, the angel investor of Chinese toy firm Pop Mart famous for its “blind box” marketing strategy talked about his tendency to choose projects that others might deem uncommon or even unusual at the time.

The same can be said about Bitcoin (BTC). Even before he graduated university, Gang was already putting some of his pocket money into BTC back when the cryptocurrency was still in its early stages. At the time, BTC had not grown as mainstream as it has now.

“Bitcoin is a very important experience in my career. Once, during a forum for alumni of Renmin University, the host asked me why I have a special fondness for Bitcoin, while various big names like chief economists have not grasped or seen it?” said Gang in a translated interview.

When he was still studying finance, banking and economic principles in university, he learned about the blockchain and Bitcoin in particular. He considered the concept to be “extremely simple” to grasp, yet not a lot of investors seemed to be aware of its potential.

“Understanding [Bitcoin] does not require you to have a PhD. I think the pursuit, questioning, and persistence in essential issues are very rare and important,” said Gang.

Despite naysayers and non-believers, Gang Mai kept believing in his choice to invest in Pop Mart before it grew into a company with a $42.80 billion market cap. It is currently the 517th most valuable company globally by market cap, according to data from CompaniesMarketCap.com.

“Regardless of whether others applaud or believe you, you believe in yourself and have remained steadfast,” said Gang in a translated interview about his role in Pop Mart’s success.

“You all think I’m different, but I’m not saying I have to be different from everyone else. Whether I’m different from you or not, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is what I believe in,” he continued.

Back in 2014, Gang Mai predicted that Bitcoin would become a vital tool in the “great power game.” When asked to describe the cryptocurrency in just two sentences, he said that he considered Bitcoin to be the “perfect currency” that mathematicians, geeks, and network scientists have simulated using distributed algorithms.

In addition, he views it as an asset that can be maintained through harnessing computing power coming from extremely powerful hardware.