Bitcoin Miner Riot Platforms Dumped Nearly $200 Million in BTC

Publicly traded Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms sold 2,201 BTC across November and December, netting the firm nearly $200 million in net proceeds, according to its December production and operations report.

The Colorado-based firm, which maintains a Bitcoin treasury, finished the year with 18,005 BTC in holdings valued around $1.65 billion at current prices—enough to place it within the 10 largest publicly traded holders of BTC. 

That mark is more than 1,300 BTC below its October balance of 19,324 BTC, and only 293 BTC above its ending balance from the previous year. The end-of-year sales marked a distinct contrast from 2024, as well, when the firm sold no Bitcoin—and actually added more than half a billion dollars worth to its coffers. 

The recent sales point to the firm’s commitment to empowering artificial intelligence, according to VanEck Head of Digital Assets Matthew Sigel. 

“That’s roughly the entire capex Riot has guided for the first 112 MW core/shell build at Corsicana, targeting completion in Q1 2027,” Sigel posted on X about Riot’s sales. 

“In other words: one winter of BTC sales ≈ funding Phase 1 of the AI data-center pivot.” 

Details about the sales were not provided, and a representative for the firm did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment. However, when the firm sold BTC earlier in the year its CEO said the proceeds would be used to “fund ongoing growth and operations.”

Those operations will be increasingly focused on AI moving forward. According to the firm’s third-quarter earnings presentation, its focus in the long term is maximizing the power it generates, noting that its approach to BTC mining has “evolved.” 

Dubbed a “power-first strategy,” the firm views BTC mining as a “tool to monetize Riot’s large-scale power portfolio in advance of data center development,” ultimately adding that it aims to fully convert its megawatts to data center use.

Riot is not alone in that transition. Other publicly traded Bitcoin miners are opening their business operations to include data center builds to help empower AI or cloud technologies. 

In the last few months, firms like CleanSpark and MARA have both signaled strategic shifts. Meanwhile, Bitfarms has noted that it will completely wind down its BTC mining operations to focus on AI. And the firms Cipher Mining and Hut 8 have inked billion-dollar AI deals backstopped by tech giant Google. 

Shares in RIOT finished the trading day up 1.3% and have jumped more than 23% in the last six months to change hands at $14.98. Bitcoin itself is up nearly 6% over the last week and recently traded hands at $92,773.