Large bitcoin miners are increasingly reorienting their infrastructure toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC). The reason is simple: electricity and grid connectivity are now more valuable than specialized equipment for mining cryptocurrencies.

According to Stanford University, the capacity of AI data centers worldwide increased from less than 1 GW in 2022 to 29.6 GW by the end of 2025. The industry’s deficit is not in chips, but in affordable electricity, substations, and permits. This is the infrastructure that miners have built over years, and it is now being used by AI companies. Major deals have already been made: IREN has signed a $9.7 billion deal with Microsoft, Hut 8 has signed a $7 billion deal with Fluidstack with support from Google, TeraWulf has contracted $12.8 billion in revenues from HPC, and Core Scientific has expanded its agreement with CoreWeave to $10.2 billion. Together, public miners have announced AI contracts worth more than $70 billion.

The market is responding positively to this shift: companies with an AI direction are trading with a 12.3-to-revenue multiplier compared to 5.9 for "clean" miners. By the end of 2026, CoinShares analysts expect AI revenue share to reach 70%. The Bitcoin mining economy has also deteriorated, with the average mintage cost of $78,000 per coin at a current rate of around $60,000. More than 20% of miners operate at a loss. However, the AI transition requires significant investment: liquid-cooled AI infrastructure costs $8-15 million per 1 MW compared to $700,000-$1 million for crypto-mining.

Risks include rising debt burdens, delays in the commissioning of facilities, and dependence on a limited number of large customers. However, the trend toward diversification continues: in May, the largest public miners sold over 32,000 BTC - more than for the entire year 2025.