The Bitcoin mining industry has jumped on the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. Corporations that once poured all their power into mining virtual assets are shifting to businesses for data centers and power infrastructure to handle AI computation, sending mining companies' stock prices soaring.
On the 26th (local time), according to Yahoo Finance, major mining corporations such as Iren, Riot, TeraWulf, and Cipher Mining are rapidly moving into investments in high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure and AI data centers. Industry officials said AI computation can generate much higher revenue than virtual asset mining. Daniel Keller, chief executive officer (CEO) of AI infrastructure company Influx Technologies, said, "Bitcoin mining is no longer effective," and added, "AI is showing explosive demand, and miners are in an optimal position with cheap power and already secured data center sites."
Recently, Bitcoin mining revenue has plunged due to price volatility and intensifying competition. Analysts at global investment bank Jefferies said, "September miner revenue fell more than 7% from the previous month," and analyzed that "the mining market has reached saturation." In addition, profitability deterioration accelerated due to the "halving," which cuts mining rewards in half every four years.
In contrast, demand for AI data centers has surged. Large technology companies such as OpenAI, Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom have signed large-scale AI computation infrastructure contracts, bringing Bitcoin miners' power grid infrastructure into the spotlight as a new opportunity. Research firm Bernstein Research analyzed, "By leveraging mining infrastructure, data center build time can be shortened by up to 75%," and "existing facilities can be converted for AI at a low cost of capital."
Following this trend, mining corporations quickly revised their strategies. CleanSpark said it entered the AI data center market by leveraging land and infrastructure. Riot is converting part of its site in Texas, United States, for combined AI and Bitcoin use, aiming to start operations next year. TeraWulf and Cipher Mining signed a 10-year, multibillion-dollar lease with FluidStack, an AI cloud company backed by Google. TeraWulf shares are up 150% this year, and Iren has surged more than 500%.
Digital infrastructure company Galaxy Digital also announced it will convert the Helios data center in Texas into an AI/HPC hub. The company partnered with cloud infrastructure company CoreWeave, whose customers include OpenAI and Microsoft.
Experts assessed that this change is not a temporary response but a structural shift. Michael Donovan, an analyst at research firm Compass Point, said, "Given long-term contracts and stable revenue structures, this is not a simple stopgap but a fundamental change in the industry's constitution."