The report comes amid a dramatic shift in the bitcoin mining industry. Following the collapse in mining profitability following the 2024 halving, many operators began repurposing their power infrastructure to support AI workloads, betting that tech companies would pay significantly more for electricity and data center capacity than bitcoin miners.
Core Scientific (CORZ) signed a multi-billion dollar hosting deal with AI startup CoreWeave, helping transform the company from a bitcoin miner to an AI infrastructure provider. TeraWulf (WULF), Hut 8 (HUT), Iren (IREN), and Cipher Mining (CIFR) have all announced plans to lease power and data center capacity to AI and high-performance computing customers, while Marathon Digital (MARA), Riot Platforms (RIOT), and CleanSpark (CLSK) are pursuing min hybrid AI strategies while maintaining bitcoin hybrid strategies.
While bitcoin (down about 24% since January), along with other major public crypto names, has lost significant value so far this year as crypto prices continue to slide as investors’ focus shifts to artificial intelligence, bitcoin miners largely have green candles across the sector. RIOT is up nearly 94% year-to-date, while CIFR is 62% higher. Others show similar gains over the same period.
That fresh narrative has helped drive some of the biggest stock moves in the crypto sector over the past year, and investors have rewarded many of these companies with valuations that increasingly reflect their AI potential rather than their mining business.
