Digital asset gains power record quarter; AI-powered game creation platform the9bit surpasses 8 million registered users
SHANGHAI, July 27, 2026 -- The9 Limited (Nasdaq: NCTY) ("The9" or the "Company"), a global diversified high-tech company, today reported net income of US$23 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026, delivering the strongest quarter in the Company's history since its 2004 IPO. The result reflects substantial digital asset-related income, accelerating adoption of the9bit, and the continued build-out of the Company's cryptocurrency operations and digital asset holdings.
Digital Asset-Related Income and Token Allocation
First-quarter net income was driven primarily by the receipt of 1.425 billion 9BIT tokens during the period, measured at fair value based on observable market prices on digital asset trading platforms including KuCoin, MEXC and BingX.
An additional 475 million 9BIT tokens were received in April 2026 and will be reflected in second-quarter results, bringing the Company's total allocation to approximately 1.9 billion tokens under its cooperation agreement with the 9BIT Foundation, an independent crypto foundation established in Panama.
The Company accounts for its digital assets in accordance with applicable US GAAP. Its unaudited financial information for the three months ended March 31, 2026, has been reviewed by The9's independent auditors under applicable standards.
As of the date of this release, the Company's total cryptocurrency holdings, including BTC and 9BIT, are valued at approximately US$110 million based on quoted market prices. This estimate is provided for reference only and may not reflect realizable value.
the9bit Platform Growth
The9's AI-powered game creation platform, the9bit, has scaled rapidly since its August 2025 launch, surpassing 8 million registered users who have created more than 110,000 games using its proprietary AI-assisted tools. By enabling creators to transform ideas and digital assets into playable games, the9bit lowers development barriers and expands the Company's content offerings.
Advancing the9bit as an AI-Native Game Operating System
The9 is developing the9bit into an AI-native production operating system for interactive entertainment. At its center is a proprietary, model-agnostic orchestration layer that integrates AI agents, foundation models and development workflows into a unified platform — a capability the Company believes represents the9bit's core competitive advantage, independent of any single foundation model. In each project, an AI producer agent transforms a single natural-language prompt into a structured development plan and autonomously directs a distributed workforce of over 60 specialized AI agents across the full production pipeline, designed to enable playable interactive experiences in as little as 10 minutes. The Company expects this advantage to compound over time, as every production cycle generates proprietary data that further strengthens the platform's intelligence layer.
Incentive Plan
The Board of Directors has approved a long-term incentive plan under which senior management will be eligible to receive equity awards representing up to 12% of the Company's outstanding shares. Notably, the awards vest only if the Company achieves higher quarterly net income in each of the remaining three quarters of 2026 compared with the first quarter, reflecting management's confidence that the Company's profitability will continue to strengthen through the year. The awards are further subject to multi-year vesting conditions and a three-year lock-up period, reinforcing management's commitment to sustained, long-term shareholder value creation.
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