5 Bitcoin Miners Pivoting to AI—And Why It Matters

Every four years or after about 210,000 blocks are mined, Bitcoin (BTC -1.34%) mining rewards get halved. The latest halving event, which was the fourth one ever, occurred in April 2024 and reduced the block reward to a mere 3.125 BTC.

Ever since the halving, Bitcoin mining economics have become tough. Mining difficulty, which is a measure of just how hard it is to mine a new block and earn rewards in BTC, is currently sitting at an all-time high (ATH) of 155.97 T. The difficulty adjusts every 2,016 blocks based on the computational power, ensuring the blocks are being mined every 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, the hashrate of the Bitcoin network is 1.053 ZH/s, only a slight drop from the peak of 1.3472 ZH/S on October 25th. Hashrate measures how much computing power is online on the network.

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As for miners’ profitability, which is measured by the hashprice, it has declined to $42.31 from almost $64 in July this year.

So, amidst the intensifying competition, it is becoming more and more difficult for Bitcoin miners to survive, especially with BTC price trading under $104,000, 17.6% off its $126K peak, while the average Bitcoin mining cost is $113,676.

As a result, Bitcoin miners are turning to greener pastures. With miners already having amassed substantial computing power, pivoting their infrastructure to address power-hungry AI’s growing demand makes a sensible and profitable decision.

In the early days of Bitcoin, one could mine a BTC right from their regular computers, but that isn’t true anymore, not for a long time now, actually. It has become extremely resource-intensive for individuals to mine BTC.

Only those with massive, energy-efficient mining rigs can meaningfully compete for Bitcoin rewards. Today’s Bitcoin mining landscape is dominated by industrial operations equipped with specialized machines, advanced cooling systems, and direct power agreements. And these large-scale operations benefit from economies of scale, lower energy costs, and optimized infrastructure.

Interestingly, this is exactly what artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) firms require. The rapid growth of AI and its massive power demands have these firms increasingly looking to the Bitcoin mining industry to help with computing power needs. 

So, in order to compensate for the reduction in mining profitability, Bitcoin miners have been signing deals with companies in the technology sector to actively use part of their data centers to host AI- and HPC-related machines. 

These deals have been helping the stocks of publicly-listed Bitcoin miners soar. As a matter of fact, the returns of Bitcoin miner stocks have performed far better than Bitcoin itself, which is only up 11.15% year-to-date (YTD).

So, let’s check out the most prominent Bitcoin miners that have turned to AI not just to survive but also to increase profitability.

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1. IREN (IREN -4.46%): The Green Energy Miner Turning Into an AI Titan

Australia-based IREN (formerly Iris Energy) is an owner and operator of next-generation data centers that are entirely powered by renewable energy. Its facilities are optimized for Bitcoin mining, AI, cloud services, and other power-dense compute. These facilities are located in renewable-rich, fiber-connected regions across the US and Canada. 

IREN boasts 2,910MW of grid-connected power, 810MW of operating data centers, AI Cloud capacity of 1.9k NVIDIA GPUs, and 50 EH/s of installed self-mining capacity.

On November 3rd, the company announced a large multi-year AI data-center deal with Microsoft (MSFT +0.95%) as well as a major equipment purchase from Dell (DELL +0.52%) to deploy Nvidia (NVDA -0.43%) graphics processing units (GPUs) at its sites.

Under this $9.7 billion cloud-services contract, Microsoft will be utilizing Nvidia GPUs at IREN’s Texas campus over a period of five years. Microsoft has already made a 20% prepayment. The deal that covers 200 MW of capacity not only gives IREN more credibility but also has the potential to propel it into the big leagues of AI infrastructure providers.

The agreement is “another major step forward for IREN as we continue to expand large-scale GPU deployments across our 3GW secured power portfolio in North America,” said IREN Co-founder and CEO Daniel Roberts, adding that this will open “access to a new customer segment among global hyperscalers.”

For Microsoft, this deal means they expand their access to power without having to build the underlying data centers or spend on chips that constantly get upgraded.

“Together with IREN, Microsoft is delivering cutting-edge AI infrastructure for our customers.”

– Microsoft President of Business Development and Ventures Jonathan Tinter

IREN also entered into a $5.8 billion agreement with Dell Technologies to acquire the Nvidia GPUs and other related equipment. These GPUs will be deployed in phases, along with new liquid-cooling solutions.

The company is planning to pay for all the capital expenditures involved by “a combination of existing cash, customer prepayments, operating cashflows, and additional financing initiatives.”

Earlier last month, IREN also announced additional multi-year cloud services contracts, including NVIDIA Blackwell GPU deployments. And a few months before that, the company was named NVIDIA’s “preferred partner.”

It was actually back in 2023 that IREN first revived its strategy around hosting HPC, as interest in AI boomed. Now, it is signing deals with major players.

As a result of all these deals, the shares of $15.2 billion market cap IREN have surged to a new high of $75.73. As of writing, the company shares are trading at $65.30, up a whopping 590% YTD. With that, it has an EPS (TTM) of 0.39 and a P/E (TTM) of 173.72.

As for company financials, IREN reported a revenue of $187.3 million and net income of $176.9 million for Q4 FY25.

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2. TeraWulf (WULF -2.58%) – From Green Bitcoin Mining to Google-Backed AI Expansion

Operating environmentally sustainable data-center infrastructure in the U.S., TeraWulf now hosts both Bitcoin mining and high-density compute. In October 2025, TeraWulf and Fluidstack formed a joint venture to develop a 168 MW AI data center in Abernathy, Texas. The project is project-financed, with Google backstopping approximately $1.3 billion of Fluidstack’s long-term lease obligations to enhance credit quality for the debt—no TeraWulf equity or warrants were issued in connection with this transaction. The JV expands TeraWulf’s contracted IT load to 510+ MW under long-term agreements.

The new purpose-built data center building will provide an incremental 160 MW of critical IT load. Its operations are expected to commence in the second half of next year.

“By adding CB-5, we are not only increasing our contracted capacity with Fluidstack, but also further deepening our strategic alignment with Google as a critical financial partner in delivering the next generation of AI infrastructure.“

– Terawulf CEO Paul Prager

Underpinned by a $1.3 billion lease-backing commitment from Google, this project expands TeraWulf’s total contracted capacity to over 510 MW. The 25-year hosting agreement also gives the Bitcoin miner a 51% ownership stake and represents about $9.5 billion in contracted revenue for the venture. The facility, whose construction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026, will run the massive computing jobs for a global hyperscale AI platform focused on advanced models.

With a market cap of $6.6 billion, WULF shares are currently trading at $15.20, up 184.45% YTD. It has an EPS (TTM) of -0.34 and a P/E (TTM) of -47.34.

Recently, TeraWulf announced that it is expecting 3Q25 revenue to be between $48 million and $52 million and adjusted EBITDA to be between $15 million and $19 million.

“With more than 510 MW of contracted critical IT load now secured. We are operating at a commercial run-rate consistent with our forward strategy of contracting an additional 250 to 500 MW per year.”

– CFO Patrick Fleury

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3. Core Scientific (CORZ +0.96%) – Rising From Bankruptcy to an $8.6 Billion AI Hosting Revival

Three years ago, Core Scientific filed for Chapter 11 at the Southern District of Texas bankruptcy court as the bear market took its toll on the cryptocurrency industry. Per filings, it had 1,000-5,000 creditors and estimated liabilities between $1 billion-$10 billion.

In January 2024, the miner won court approval to exit bankruptcy and implement a reorganization plan that trimmed about $400 million in debt from its balance sheet. A recovery in BTC prices helped Core Scientific fully repay company creditors.

“With demand for Bitcoin and high-value compute continuing to rise, we look forward to creating value for our shareholders as we execute our growth plan, de-lever our balance sheet, and deliver superior efficiency at scale.“

– CEO Adam Sullivan

As of December 2023, Core Scientific was operating 16.9 exahash of hash rate for its Bitcoin mining business and 6.3 exahash for its hosting business. In 2025, it boasts a combined hash rate (self-mining plus hosted) of ~20.6 EH/s.

To better weather the downturn periods, the company has also been expanding into the AI sector. Last year, Core Scientific inked a 12-year, 200 MW deal with CoreWeave to help expand its AI capabilities, with options to expand the capacity further. While Core Scientific builds the data center suited for AI clusters, CoreWeave owns the machines and the software stack.

Recently, it exercised its final option to contract for additional infrastructure as part of the 200 MW hosting. The agreement is expected to generate $8.6 billion in revenue over 12 years.

Around this time, Core Scientific also ended a deal for its sale to CoreWeave, originally a crypto miner, after shareholders voted against the proposal. This was the second time CoreWeave’s attempt was thwarted after an all-cash buyout offer was rejected last year.

The shares of $7.10 billion market cap Core Scientific are currently trading at $21.95, up 63% YTD. It has an EPS (TTM) of 0.04 and a P/E (TTM) of 527.65.

For the third quarter of 2025, the company reported a revenue of $81.1 million, including $57.4 million from digital asset self-mining, $8.7 million from digital asset hosted mining, and $15 million from high-density colocation (formerly HPC hosting).

Its revenue from Bitcoin self-mining declined due to a 55% decrease in BTC mined, though it was partially offset by an 88% increase in BTC price. Hosted mining revenue also fell due to the company’s continued strategic shift to high-density colocation business.

At the end of the quarter, Core Scientific had $453.4 million in cash and cash equivalents and $241.4 million in Bitcoin.

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4. Riot Platforms (RIOT +1.08%) – Turning Bitcoin Power Into an AI Data-Center Empire

The Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure company Riot Platforms is also exploring the development of a portion of its power capacity for AI and HPC applications, much like several others in the cryptocurrency mining space.

Before diving deeper into the fast-growing world of AI, the company launched a formal process earlier this year to assess the feasibility of allocating its remaining power capacity at the Corsicana, Texas, facility toward such uses. Riot also initiated preliminary discussions with potential AI and HPC partners.

At the Corsicana site, the company currently utilizes less than half of its approved capacity for Bitcoin mining. Out of the 1 GW total capacity approved by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Riot uses only 400 MW.

Meanwhile, it has halted the development of a 600 MW Phase II Bitcoin mining expansion at the same facility.

Recently, the company announced that it has been making progress in the development of its data center business, starting with two buildings at the Corsicana data center campus, which represent 112 MW of IT capacity. This progress, Riot noted, has been made possible by the acquisition of an additional 67-acre parcel of land directly adjacent to its original site. The company has also completed the campus design to transform the entire site for data center development, as well as the basis of design for a standard data center build.

Together with creating an in-house data center team, “these developments represent key advancements in our efforts to transform Riot into a large-scale, multi-faceted data center operator, in line with our strategy of maximizing the value of our unique portfolio of land and power assets,“ said the company.

With a market cap of $7.7 billion, RIOT shares are currently trading at $19.93, up almost 103% YTD. It has an EPS (TTM) of 0.21 and a P/E (TTM) of 97.51.

For the third quarter of 2025, Riot reported a revenue of $180.2 million, driven by a $93.3 million increase in Bitcoin Mining revenue. During this period, the company produced 1,406 BTC at an average mining cost (excluding depreciation) of $46,324, as a result of an increase in operational hash rate. Its engineering revenue for the quarter was $19.1 million.

At the end of the quarter, Riot had $170 million in working capital and 19,287 Bitcoin, of which 3,300 were held as collateral.

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5. Cipher Mining (CIFR -2.62%) – Google and Amazon Deals Transform This Miner Into an AI Cloud Giant

Just like other miners, Cipher has been pivoting to AI and secured a major deal with Alphabet (GOOG -1.2%). The miner announced a 10-year, $3 billion AI cloud hosting deal backstopped by Google in September. 

Per this HPC colocation deal with Fluidstack, Cipher will deliver 168 MW of critical IT load at its Barber Lake site in Texas. It will be supported by a maximum of 244 MW of gross capacity.

In exchange for $1.4 billion backstopping to support debt financing related to the project, Google gets warrants to buy about 24 million shares of Cipher common stock, which will give it a 5.4% stake.

Just a day after unveiling its deal with Google, Cipher Mining announced an increase in the price of its convertible debt offering, from $800 million to $1.1 billion. The miner ended up issuing $1.3 billion in Convertible Senior Notes that are due in 2031, with an additional option of $200 million for initial buyers.

As of writing, the shares of $8.9 billion market cap Cipher are trading at $21.22, up 390.52% this year. With that, it has an EPS (TTM) of -0.19 and a P/E (TTM) of -120.94.

Most recently, the company announced its Q3 of 2025 financials, posting $72 million in revenue and a net loss of $3 million, or $0.01 per share.

During this “truly transformative“ period, the company reported executing the AI hosting agreement with Fluidstack and Google. But most importantly, Cipher signed its first 15-year direct lease with a Tier 1 hyperscaler. The $5.5 billion agreement has been signed with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to support AI workloads. Per the agreement, Cipher will deliver 300 MW of capacity next year, alongside air and liquid cooling to the racks. 

The Bitcoin miner has also formed a joint entity to develop a 1 GW site, named “Colchis”, in West Texas. For this, Cipher has secured an agreement with electric utility company American Electric Power (“AEP”), which will build the necessary dual interconnections for a 2028 targeted energization, once it has received grid operator ERCOT’s final review. 

For the majority (95%) equity ownership, Cipher will provide the majority of the financing for the 620 acres of land that is located adjacent to the existing substation, and is well-suited for the development of an HPC data center.

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The Great Pivot: Bitcoin Miners Turn Infrastructure Challenges Into AI Opportunities

So, the tough economics of Bitcoin mining in recent years have made it a necessity for miners to innovate and adapt. With massive power capacity and scalable infrastructure already in place, many Bitcoin miners are finding a natural fit in the AI and HPC sectors. This strategic shift has proven highly rewarding for these public mining companies, whose shares have been rallying to new highs even as cryptocurrency prices remain under pressure.

As these companies form deep partnerships and secure billion-dollar deals with tech giants, they are not only diversifying their revenue streams to weather market downturns but also positioning themselves at the forefront of the next generation of digital infrastructure.