2013 Prophecy: McGann Talks About Bitcoin, Currency Wars, and the Internationalization of the Renminbi

Author: Ventureslab

In March 2025, U.S. President Trump signed an executive order announcing the establishment of the "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve," with the U.S. Treasury directly holding and managing these digital assets. This marks the first major power in the world to explicitly incorporate Bitcoin into its sovereign reserve system.

In June 2025, the U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act, establishing a global regulatory framework for stablecoins, allowing for a 1:1 peg to the U.S. dollar, and mandating that the exchanged dollars can only be used to purchase U.S. Treasury bonds.

As early as 2013, an early tech investor, Mai Gang, spread knowledge about Bitcoin and blockchain to young people in various cities in China, focusing on the history of currency and the global financial landscape to explain his understanding of Bitcoin. He proposed many viewpoints that have stood the test of time, despite the skepticism and astonishment prevalent at the time:

"Bitcoin will go through three stages: individual competition, institutional competition, and ultimately national competition."

"I suggest the Chinese government hold 20-30% of the global total Bitcoin as a strategic reserve now (in 2013)."

"In the future, the U.S. dollar will be pegged to cryptocurrencies in some form."

"Multiple countries, including the U.S., will adopt Bitcoin as one of their national reserve currencies."

At that time, most people were still debating whether Bitcoin was a scam or if it could be used to buy coffee, while Mai Gang had already seen the potential for competition between nations over Bitcoin. This perspective, looking back today, still seems remarkably forward-thinking.

In 2025, the U.S. launched executive orders and legislation for digital currency, marking a watershed moment in the digital currency field. At this important milestone, the editor and Mr. Mai Gang conducted another interview.

Q: Everyone knows your legendary story of investing in Pop Mart, but few know that you were also an early promoter of the digital currency industry. Do you have any stories to share with us?

A: In 2007, I co-founded Douyin with Jonathan Lin, and Xu Mingxing quickly became the CTO from a software engineer. In 2012, Mingxing left Douyin to start his own venture. Although I was reluctant, I wholeheartedly supported and invested in him. His project at that time was a full-chain service platform in the food delivery sector. Despite Mingxing being an excellent and well-rounded entrepreneur, I didn't think the food delivery sector was a suitable project for him. Fortunately, we transitioned to the digital currency trading field and co-founded OKCoin (OKX), which aligned with Mingxing's background and strengths. The position and contributions of OKCoin in the digital currency industry, whether in product, marketing, talent development, or internationalization, are well recognized and appreciated in the industry. Xu Mingxing will always be a source of pride for me, even though I have never mentioned these stories to the media.

Q: You are one of the earliest evangelists and knowledge disseminators in the digital currency field. What was your background and motivation at the time?

A: I started promoting Bitcoin to young people in 2013, with the original intention of spreading knowledge about international finance and the history of currency. I consider myself quite academic, as I studied macroeconomics in my undergraduate program. The foundational knowledge of monetary banking, even in basic undergraduate courses, is not easily understood by the general public. I simply taught what I understood and expressed my predictions and beliefs about the future. Indeed, many young people benefited from this, and over a decade later, I have received messages from people I have never met, thanking me for enlightening them with knowledge back then.

Bitcoin Price Chart (2012-2025)

Q: However, this industry is also full of controversies and even illegal activities. What is your perspective on this?

A: The origin of digital currency is technological innovation, which will always be ahead of regulation. It's similar to today's explosion of AI, which has a profound impact on society, but the regulation of the AI field also needs time to improve. In 2018, there was a wave of ICOs. At first, I carefully read several white papers, hoping for another blockchain innovation, but I quickly concluded that if I wasn't a fool, I was sitting across from a scammer. I indeed saw the chaos in this industry, and many people were involved. **I once again began giving public speeches titled "ICOs have nothing to do with Bitcoin, the core issue is the lack of regulatory oversight". I aimed to alert the public to the risks. Regardless of whether they were born in the 90s or 70s, we have no differences in our shared values and bottom lines; we are all law-abiding citizens with moral conscience.

I remember saying a famous quote at that time: "I am not afraid of not understanding, nor am I afraid of pretending to understand; I am afraid of those who understand pretending not to understand." The people involved in the chaos may be due to ignorance or greed, but the most despicable are those who intend to commit fraud.

Later, I was fortunate to be elected as a professional committee member of the China Securities Investment Fund Association, and I believe everyone recognizes my dedication and sense of responsibility.

**Q: In your interview with *Jiabanshinzhidian titled The Years I Was "Abandoned" by the VC Circle, you mentioned the lonely moments as a Bitcoin evangelist. Some people questioned that it might be due to the industry's span and knowledge deficiency, but why did financial industry practitioners not have your level of understanding at that time?*

A: I was indeed one of the earliest evangelists in the Chinese investment industry to invest in and promote Bitcoin knowledge. I remember attending a forum for alumni of Renmin University one year, where the host asked why it seemed I was the first to discover and seize the significant opportunity of Bitcoin among the many talented alumni in finance. I candidly admitted that there are many smart scholars in the investment industry who know much more than I do. I genuinely compliment them; I feel I am slower, and my knowledge is not as broad and comprehensive as theirs. Fortunately, I am not a poor student, so I used a simple method: for all judgments and decisions, ask three essential core questions and answer them clearly.

The essence of Bitcoin is actually very simple, but because it spans multiple fields of network, technology, and finance, there may be some difficulties in understanding and cognition. Knowing more has its benefits, but it can also have side effects, such as forgetting what is most essential. When you hear a hundred voices, you need to discern the three most important ones; the rest may be unimportant or even noise. This is the wisdom passed down by ancient Chinese philosophers.

In 2013, I was removed from the WeChat groups of two mainstream VC circles for discussing Bitcoin. The members of the groups were all highly educated individuals, and I considered my teaching method to be very professional. However, some still thought I was selling something. I believed it was a discussion of professional financial knowledge and shared an investment opportunity, but some people thought I was misleading them. At that time, I felt very disappointed, as every social animal hopes to gain recognition.

Q: The U.S. passed the stablecoin bill this year, and digital currency has officially entered the national competition stage you predicted over a decade ago. As an early opinion leader in the industry, what new perspectives and views do you have?

A: I don't dare to call myself an opinion leader; I am neither capable nor willing to be a public intellectual. However, I am well-educated and have seen the world. The more I travel around the world, the more I believe in China's strength and the pride of being Chinese. Looking back at my 2013 suggestion for China to conduct strategic Bitcoin reserves, it was indeed a correct and forward-looking viewpoint. Currently, the introduction of the U.S. dollar stablecoin bill is another heavyweight tool in the international currency competition. Countries around the world are increasingly concerned about the U.S.'s debt repayment ability, and the issuance of dollar stablecoins provides tremendous purchasing power for U.S. Treasury bonds, just as I mentioned in my 2013 video. The U.S. excels at turning crises into opportunities and even changing the rules of the game.

Chinese authorities should take immediate action to formulate relevant systems and legislation to promote the issuance of offshore RMB stablecoins. Because the globalization of the RMB is a significant long-term strategy that concerns the welfare of the Chinese people. The circulation of physical goods made in China around the world is a testament to China's national strength, but please remember that currency is also a special and the highest level of commodity, which is basic knowledge taught in undergraduate courses. I believe this is the combination of soft power and hard power.

Conclusion

Over a decade has passed, and Bitcoin has moved from grassroots to mainstream, from "speculation" to regulation. It has not overturned the U.S. dollar but is gradually becoming an indispensable variable in global finance.

Mai Gang's predictions have not been fully realized, but he pointed out the logical basis for Bitcoin as an "anchor asset" in the monetary system, which has been gradually validated by reality. His warnings about the U.S. strategic layout are also becoming key clues in financial policy formulation.

This is a judgment made by an investor, observer, and practitioner in the early days of digital currency. It may not be entirely correct, but it is certainly worth remembering.

"The story of Bitcoin is ultimately a story of wisdom and competition between nations."