According to Fixygen, major Bitcoin miners are accelerating the repurposing of some of their energy facilities and infrastructure into data centers for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing amid a deteriorating Bitcoin mining economy, Cointelegraph reports.
In this new model, the miners’ key asset is not ASIC equipment—which is unsuitable for AI computing—but rather access to electricity, substations, cooling systems, permits, and ready-to-use sites. It is precisely the shortage of grid-connected power that has become one of the main constraints on the development of AI data centers. The total capacity of AI data centers worldwide reached 29.6 GW by the end of 2025, whereas in 2022 it was less than 1 GW.
Publicly traded mining companies have already concluded a number of major deals in the AI and HPC segments. In particular, in November 2025, IREN signed a five-year agreement with Microsoft for GPU cloud services worth approximately $9.7 billion for a 750-MW campus in Texas. Hut 8 signed a 15-year, $7 billion contract with Fluidstack for the River Bend facility in Louisiana, while Core Scientific expanded its agreement with CoreWeave to $10.2 billion over 12 years.
According to CoinShares, public mining companies have already announced contracts in the fields of AI and high-performance computing totaling more than $70 billion. Companies with such agreements are valued significantly higher by the market: their price-to-earnings ratio for the last 12 months stands at 12.3, compared to 5.9 for miners that remain primarily focused on Bitcoin mining.
Analysts estimate that the share of AI revenue among public mining companies could rise to approximately 70% by the end of 2026, compared to about 30% in the first quarter. This trend is effectively transforming some mining companies into infrastructure operators for the AI market.
Pressure on traditional mining has intensified due to declining margins. According to JPMorgan’s estimates, the average cost of mining a single Bitcoin is about $78,000, and approximately 20% of miners are operating at a loss. Based on current prices, Bitcoin is trading at around $62,500, which is below the estimated average cost of production.
At the same time, the transition to AI is not cheap. According to CoinShares, a typical crypto mining infrastructure costs $700,000 to $1 million per 1 MW, while liquid-cooled AI facilities may require $8–15 million per 1 MW. This increases companies’ debt burden and makes them dependent on large clients—hyperscalers.
For the market, this signals a shift in investment logic within the mining sector. Whereas Bitcoin price, hash rate, and electricity costs were previously the main factors, long-term contracts with AI clients, access to capital, and the ability to quickly repurpose facilities for GPU infrastructure are now becoming increasingly important for some companies.
Publicly traded Bitcoin miners are under pressure following the halving due to the reduction in block rewards, high network difficulty, and Bitcoin price volatility. Expansion into AI and HPC allows them to diversify their revenue, but at the same time shifts their business into the capital-intensive data center segment, where debt, facility commissioning timelines, and customer concentration remain key risks.
AI, BITCOIN, DATA CENTER, HPC, MINING
