Bitcoin Miners Pivot to AI, Securing Lucrative Deals with Tech Giants December 24, 2025 A strategic shift is underway in the data center industry as Bitcoin mining companies, facing squeezed margins in their core business, are successfully repurposing their high-power infrastructure to meet the explosive demand for artificial intelligence computing. This conversion trend is unlocking new, stable revenue streams and driving significant investor optimism, even as cryptocurrency markets remain volatile. Leading miners such as Core Scientific and CleanSpark are at the forefront of this transition, signing long-term infrastructure leases with hyperscale clients including Amazon, Microsoft, and other major tech firms. The pivot is fueled by a clear market overlap: AI developers urgently need readily available sites with substantial power capacity and cooling, assets that large-scale Bitcoin miners already possess. While the conversions require significant investment to upgrade cooling systems and replace Bitcoin application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) with graphics processing units (GPUs), they offer tech companies a faster and often cheaper path to expansion than building new facilities from scratch. The financial impact is already evident in the market. Core Scientific’s shares quadrupled in 2024 after securing its first major AI contract in February and have risen an additional 10% this year. Similarly, CleanSpark’s stock is up 25% year-to-date. The broader sector is also benefiting, with the CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF surging approximately 90% in 2025. Other miners like Cipher Mining and IREN have seen similar boosts after announcing deals with Amazon and Microsoft. Core Scientific has outlined a plan to fully exit Bitcoin mining by 2028, betting entirely on the AI opportunity. Company leadership is bullish on the transition. “The opportunity for miners to convert to AI is one of the greatest opportunities I could possibly imagine,” said Adam Sullivan, Chief Executive of Core Scientific. However, not all miners are abandoning cryptocurrency. Some, like CleanSpark, which recently raised $1.15 billion for infrastructure expansion, are maintaining a hybrid model. This approach offers grid flexibility, as Bitcoin mining operations can be quickly curtailed during peak demand or emergencies—a valuable service for utilities that AI data centers, which require constant uptime, cannot provide. The shift, however, is not without its challenges and critics. Analysts note the technical and capital intensity of moving from mining to high-performance computing (HPC). “Bitcoin miners have an advantage in understanding power and its use but there’s a night and day difference between mining and HPC support,” said Kevin Dede, senior research analyst at H.C. Wainwright. “It’s more than an order of magnitude of intensity and complexity.” Furthermore, a large-scale industry pivot could reduce U.S. Bitcoin mining output, potentially conflicting with political objectives to keep such operations domestic. Source: Cryptopolitan
Bitcoin Miners Pivot to AI, Securing Lucrative Deals with Tech Giants
