Bitcoin miners’ AI pivot faces $50 billion reality check, says VanEck

The report comes amid a dramatic shift in the bitcoin mining industry. Following the collapse in mining profitability after the 2024 halving, many operators began repurposing their power infrastructure to support AI workloads, betting that technology companies would pay significantly more for electricity and data center capacity than bitcoin miners.

Core Scientific (CORZ) signed a multibillion-dollar hosting agreement with AI startup CoreWeave, helping transform the company from a bitcoin miner into an AI infrastructure provider. TeraWulf (WULF), Hut 8 (HUT), Iren (IREN), and Cipher Mining (CIFR) have all announced plans to lease power and data center capacity to AI and high-performance computing customers, while Marathon Digital (MARA), Riot Platforms (RIOT) and CleanSpark (CLSK) are pursuing hybrid strategies that maintain bitcoin mining operations while exploring AI opportunities.

While bitcoin (down about 24% since January), along with other big public crypto names, have lost significant value so far this year as crypto prices continue to slide amid shifting investor focus to AI, bitcoin miners have seen largely green candles across the sector. RIOT is up nearly 94% year-to-date, while CIFR is 62% higher. Others are showing similar gains over the same period.

The fresh narrative has helped drive some of the biggest stock moves in the crypto sector over the past year, and investors have rewarded many of these companies with valuations that increasingly reflect their AI potential rather than their mining businesses.