Chinese e-commerce platform MOGU Inc. (NYSE: MOGU) recently announced that its board of directors has approved an investment of up to $20 million in digital currencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, as well as related products. The move aims to diversify the company's treasury and support AI business development, with authorization granted to Chairman Chen Qi to determine the timing and amount of acquisitions.

According to MOGU Inc.'s latest statement, the board believes that by incorporating digital assets into its core holdings, the company can not only diversify its treasury portfolio but also enhance operational capabilities essential for next-generation AI products and services. Following this announcement, MOGU Inc.'s stock price surged nearly 200% at today's opening.

Founded in 2011, MOGU Inc. was once a leading brand in women's shopping and a nostalgic memory for post-80s and post-90s female consumers. However, the good times didn't last long. In 2013, Taobao's crackdown on shopping guide links forced MOGU Inc. to prematurely end its community model and hastily transform into an e-commerce platform. Today, it has become an unfamiliar and distant term for Generation Z consumers.

"It was a matter of survival at the time. We couldn't afford to think about long-term dreams and could only focus on staying alive," reflected MOGU Inc. CEO Fan Yiming when recalling the transformation, his tone calm.

Over a decade has passed, and internet trends have continued to evolve. Pinduoduo rose to prominence, Xiaohongshu gained popularity, live-streaming e-commerce exploded, yet MOGU Inc. continues to explore its path. This is a company that seems commercially "not quite right," where cash on hand even exceeds market capitalization. Capital markets remain puzzled by it, yet it hasn't completely exited the scene.

In March 2023, Fan Yiming became MOGU Inc.'s new CEO. Over the past two years in office, he has led the team to explore growth curves beyond platform business. Starting from June last year, MOGU Inc. adopted an MCN model to extend its team's service capabilities to platforms like Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu. After thorough testing, the company decisively abandoned larger-scale platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou, focusing entirely on Xiaohongshu.

In April 2023, WeShop, an AIGC application incubated by MOGU Inc., was launched. This application can generate e-commerce product images and videos, primarily serving domestic and international e-commerce merchants, acquiring nearly one million users globally.

From a star e-commerce platform to a service provider role "making wedding dresses for others," is MOGU Inc. truly content with this transformation? Facing questions from reporters, Fan Yiming sat down for nearly an hour-long in-depth interview, discussing MOGU Inc.'s glory and regrets over the past decade, candidly responding to external doubts, and detailing his thoughts on the company's future.

"Over the past decade, we indeed missed many opportunities and encountered many pitfalls. But now we know what we can do and what we cannot do," Fan Yiming admitted. Through continuous trial and error, MOGU Inc. has finally clarified what it doesn't want. Today, remaining at the table, MOGU Inc. has clearly defined what it wants.

In the new wave of the times, what exactly are their opportunities?

**Decade of Ups and Downs, Advancing into AI**

MOGU Inc. once rode various trends but seemed to repeatedly miss opportunities, stumbling to where it stands today. On December 6, 2018, MOGU Inc. officially listed on the NYSE as "China's first fashion technology stock," backed by capital giants like Tencent, Hillhouse Capital, and Sequoia Capital. At that time, MOGU Inc. gathered over 50,000 fashion influencers and nearly 20,000 live streamers, enjoying unlimited glory.

Fan Yiming recalls the most glorious days with some nostalgia: "Before 2013, everyone would browse MOGU Inc. and Meilishuo first, then go shopping on Taobao."

But the good times were short-lived. In 2013, Taobao's ban on external shopping guide links cut off MOGU Inc.'s lifeline. Since then, MOGU Inc. has frequently wavered on its transformation path, paying enormous costs.

MOGU Inc. had to quickly transform into a content-based e-commerce platform. Seeking scale effects, MOGU Inc. chose to join forces with former competitors, but the outcome wasn't as expected. In 2016, MOGU Inc. experienced the most significant M&A event in its transformation journey: merging with Meilishuo. At the time, Meilishuo had signed multiple top celebrity endorsers and invested heavily in popular variety shows.

The merger was intended as a strong alliance but unexpectedly led to severe internal resource dispersion. "We operated differentiated strategies - Meilishuo targeted white-collar groups while MOGU Inc. focused on young students. But the user profiles were extremely similar, ultimately leading to scattered resources and serious internal conflicts," Fan Yiming admitted, acknowledging the lack of quick decision-making to cut losses at the time.

"Market user mindshare was invested, contracts weren't finished, it was very expensive, and we were reluctant to stop directly - that's sunk cost," he explained. Ultimately, MOGU Inc.'s hesitation caused it to miss the golden window of rapid e-commerce growth from 2017 to 2019.

Tightening capital environment exacerbated the problems. MOGU Inc. briefly attempted a low-price model but quickly discovered this approach was completely incompatible with the company's team DNA. "The team felt very unsuitable, completely mismatched with our genes and values," Fan Yiming recalled.

As the industry entered the live-streaming e-commerce era, major streamers like Li Jiaqi, Viya, and Xinba captured all attention, and MOGU Inc. gradually lost its position on stage.

Today in 2025, external skepticism continues. But the reality is that MOGU Inc. hasn't left the table. "We haven't disappeared; we've just survived in a way more suitable for us," Fan Yiming said.

Current MOGU Inc. has begun exploring beyond platform business, actively embracing AI and globalization on one hand, establishing WeShop, an entrepreneurial team incubated internally. As of September 2024, WeShop has nearly one million registered users globally, with over half from overseas.

Leveraging MOGU Inc.'s deep fashion operation foundation, WeShop deeply embeds AI technology into user insights and fashion consumption scenarios, becoming a "hidden champion" that precisely matches user needs in the fashion sector.

On the other hand, Fan Yiming is leading the team to stabilize the platform business foundation while exploring new MCN business on Xiaohongshu, relying on their aesthetic and fashion DNA.

Discussing differences with Xiaohongshu, Fan Yiming pointed out that MOGU Inc. was previously called community e-commerce but was essentially e-commerce. "We just created shopping experiences for users through content, live streaming, and experiential formats - we never departed from shopping scenarios. But Xiaohongshu is a purer community."

Fan Yiming explained that shopping on Xiaohongshu is an ancillary need, while community interaction and sharing are primary needs. Today, whether becoming an AIGC tool serving global merchants or a service provider on Xiaohongshu platform, MOGU Inc. is conducting more practical new business explorations.

The cost of frequent wavering over past years has made MOGU Inc. increasingly clear-headed in today's competition. "We indeed missed many opportunities and encountered many pitfalls in the past," Fan Yiming said, "but fortunately, we now understand what we should and shouldn't do."

**Abandoning Douyin and Kuaishou, Focusing Only on Xiaohongshu MCN**

After years of continuous trial and error, capital pursuit and calm reflection, MOGU Inc. is walking a more pragmatic new path. Fan Yiming's office still displays multiple versions of MOGU Inc. covers, including currently popular traffic stars.

Recalling the decision to bet the MCN new business on Xiaohongshu over a year ago, Fan Yiming remains confident: "Xiaohongshu is the opportunity we're best at and most suitable for."

But making this decision wasn't easy. In early 2024, nearly a year after Fan Yiming took over as MOGU Inc.'s CEO, with platform business increasingly stable, he and the team were eager to explore a new business that could "make good money." They quickly tried e-commerce platforms including Douyin, Kuaishou, and even WeChat Video, but none felt "right."

"Our team excels at aesthetics and fashion content, specializing in non-standard categories like apparel and cosmetics. But these advantages can't be leveraged in Douyin and Kuaishou ecosystems, because the core competition there is always low-price standard products," Fan Yiming admitted.

After Q3 2024 ended, Fan Yiming made a firm decision: the MCN new business would fully bet on Xiaohongshu. "This time, the team had no hesitation and quickly reached consensus," Fan Yiming said. "Previously, we tried too many platforms, always thinking 'let's try everything,' resulting in scattered resources and missing all opportunities. This time is completely different - we've made it clear that MCN business will only focus on Xiaohongshu."

Fan Yiming analyzed: "100 billion transaction volume corresponding to 120 million daily active users - this ratio means Xiaohongshu's penetration rate is far from saturated, with market scale having at least double or more growth potential. Xiaohongshu's commercialization process isn't slow; the boundaries between community and e-commerce are gradually blurring, with significant room for e-commerce penetration rate improvement."

In his view, Douyin's interest e-commerce closed-loop logic is mature and self-consistent, but Xiaohongshu is different. The latter has a long way to go in building content e-commerce mindshare, which precisely means significant opportunity space for MOGU Inc.

"We know that MCN business simply can't succeed without going all-in." Facing questions about the risks of betting on a single platform, Fan Yiming makes no attempt to hide his determination. "We're entrepreneurial, especially with new business - we don't need to consider the risks of betting on one platform. When you haven't even succeeded yet, what's the point of worrying about these things?"

The commercial logic of the MCN new business is also very clear - focusing on streamer product selection rather than products themselves. "For non-standard product e-commerce, people are more important than goods. If you only focus on product sourcing, you'll ultimately fall into homogeneous product competition where no one can break out," Fan Yiming stated.

Since building the new business over a year ago, as of June 2025, MOGU Inc.'s MCN has ranked among the top three in Xiaohongshu's MCN sector. "Last year's goal was top ten; this year we directly set first place, with top three as the minimum, because only leading players have scale and profit," Fan Yiming stated.

In Fan Yiming's eyes, MOGU Inc. and Xiaohongshu are naturally compatible. "Our team has aesthetic and fashion DNA; we excel in non-standard apparel and cosmetics categories. Douyin and Kuaishou basically operate on low-price standard product logic, which we're not good at. Our team's DNA determines that Xiaohongshu is most suitable for us."

The once ambitious MOGU Inc. that always wanted to compete with giants now focuses only on what it does best, abandoning "wanting everything" to concentrate on becoming a leading player in precise sectors.