As if continued declines in the bitcoin price weren’t enough, shares of bitcoin miners that have changed their business plan to focus on AI infrastructure were mostly sharply lower on Monday following Nvidia’s $2 billion investment in CoreWeave.
While the investment underscores the growing demand for high-performance computing as AI applications expand, it also highlights the challenges for independent miners trying to reposition themselves as infrastructure providers in the space.
Cipher Mining (CIFR), CleanSpark (CLSK), IREN (IREN) and TeraWulf (WULF) were among the names down 5%-9% on the news.
The decline reflects investor concerns that CoreWeave’s growing lead in the AI infrastructure market could limit the benefits for other players.
“The declines across the AI and HPC segment tied to bitcoin miners today signal a commitment between NVIDIA and CoreWeave, with GPU allocation increasingly prioritized towards this partnership,” said James Van Straten, senior bitcoin analyst at CoinDesk. “This could potentially reduce funding options for independent miners looking to pivot into AI infrastructure. The $2 billion capital infusion is set to significantly expand CoreWeave’s AI computing capabilities, which would intensify competition and squeeze both margins and market share for smaller players.”
Van Straten also noted that CoreWeave’s $53 billion market cap is already half of the highest valuation of the entire bitcoin AI mining sector in October.
“As with any growing industry, consolidation now seems increasingly inevitable,” he said.
Additionally, Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets at VanEck, said CLSK fell about 9% as markets priced in perceived risk of fallout tied to its Tennessee exposure following state-level headlines, despite its sites being in grid green zones. The decline was exacerbated by a proxy filing that quantified a CEO pay package of approx. $45 million by 2025, raising concerns for management as the company pivots toward AI, according to Sigel.
The only name showing a significant gain on Monday is Core Scientific (CORZ). Although CoreWeave tried and failed to acquire CORZ in 2025, the two continue to have a multi-year data center agreement. Shares are only up more than 2% in late morning trading.
Also outperforming is Hut 8 (HUT), another miner that has diversified into AI hosting and high-performance computing. Along with Core Scientific, HUT also offers infrastructure tailored for large-scale AI applications, giving it a competitive advantage as demand for computing increases. The HUT shares are higher by 0.2 per cent.
The shift towards AI is not new. Bitcoin miners, once singularly focused on validating blockchain transactions, have repurposed their data centers for more profitable workloads, especially as mining rewards shrink and power costs rise.
However, Nvidia’s latest move suggests those resources may increasingly flow to larger, more tightly integrated players like CoreWeave, forcing smaller companies to adapt or consolidate.
