Artificial intelligence companies are outperforming Bitcoin miners in infrastructure, leading to a structural shift in the mining sector with declining mining profitability and increasing demand for high-performance computing for AI. Bitcoin miners, especially after the Bitcoin halving in 2024, faced rising production costs and collapsing retail prices, making AI-related projects more attractive. The same infrastructure assets - including large data centers, access to low-cost power, and advanced cooling systems - are highly valuable to both industries.
Major tech companies, facing a shortage of data center capacity, are actively pursuing assets held by Bitcoin miners. In turn, many public Bitcoin mining companies are focusing on AI infrastructure by leveraging their existing assets and entering into billion-dollar contracts with tech giants. Examples of this shift include:
(Irin) (formerly Iris Energy), which saw its stock rise after securing a $9.7 billion cloud deal with Microsoft.
(Business (platforms) that halted plans to expand Bitcoin mining to explore AI opportunities.
(Core Scientific), which leased its facilities to (CoreWeave) backed by (Nvidia) in a $6.7 billion deal.
(Bitfarms), which is moving towards AI data centers and high-performance computing (HPC).
From an economic perspective, the shift is compelling because AI data centers can generate significantly higher revenues per kilowatt hour than Bitcoin mining. While the infrastructure for AI requires higher capital expenditure due to specialized hardware like graphics processing units and more advanced cooling, the potential for higher returns and stable revenue streams outweighs the costs for many miners.
This shift has led some miners to rebrand themselves and reposition as AI infrastructure providers, as investors began to evaluate these companies based on their opportunities in (HPC)/AI rather than the pure hash rate of Bitcoin. The current price of Bitcoin as of December 4, 2025, is approximately $92,773.70.
