Bitcoin miners pivot to AI, signing over $70 billion in contracts as mining margins shrink

The Bitcoin mining industry is undergoing a metamorphosis that would have seemed absurd three years ago. Companies that built their entire identity around hashing SHA-256 algorithms are now racing to become landlords for AI data centers, and the numbers behind this pivot are staggering. Public mining companies have collectively signed over $70 billion in AI and high-performance computing contracts. Some of these firms could derive up to 70% of their revenue from AI by the end of 2026. The deals driving the transformation Core Scientific set the pace with a 15-year deal signed with AMD on July 28, 2026, covering up to 2.5 GW of energy capacity. The agreement could generate over $14 billion in revenue over its lifetime. Hut 8 isn’t far behind. The company fully commercialized its 1 GW Beacon Point campus in Texas through a $9.8 billion, 15-year lease. That deal pushed Hut 8’s total contracted portfolio value to $26.6 billion. The logic is straightforward. Bitcoin miners spent years building out massive power infrastructure in locations with cheap electricity. AI companies desperately need exactly that: lots of power, in places where they can actually get it connected to the grid. Why...