Why Bitcoiners turned to AI
The 2024 Bitcoin halving decreased block rewards to three.125 BTC, chopping miners’ revenue in half. This change, mixed with greater electrical energy prices, costly gear upkeep and elevated competitors, made conventional mining much less worthwhile. Many mining corporations struggled to keep up their revenue margins and commenced exploring different income sources.
Although Bitcoin mining depends on units known as ASICs, mining corporations have entry to energy-dense information facilities and energy infrastructure. As demand for AI compute skyrockets, many miners are repurposing or upgrading their services with GPUs to help AI coaching and inference workloads.
However, synthetic intelligence calls for immense computing energy, particularly for coaching giant language fashions, powering autonomous methods and working enterprise AI instruments.
As tech corporations race to safe high-performance infrastructure, Bitcoin mining companies are stepping in. Leveraging their current energy-intensive information facilities and upgrading with GPUs, many miners have begun providing AI cloud companies or renting out spare capability. This diversification permits them to generate regular, non-crypto revenue streams, lowering reliance on unstable Bitcoin (BTC) revenues.
This shift offsets the influence of Bitcoin halving and has led to extra worthwhile and steady income streams.
Did ? AI workloads and Bitcoin mining each demand huge power. By planning for each, miners can lease extra capability to AI companies, particularly throughout crypto downturns, turning stranded energy right into a steady money circulation.
Case research: Core Scientific’s $3.5 billion lifeline
Core Scientific is a powerful instance of how shifting to AI may help a struggling Bitcoin mining firm get better. After going through monetary difficulties and submitting for Chapter 11 chapter in late 2022 as a consequence of low Bitcoin costs and heavy debt, the corporate restructured and returned to the Nasdaq in early 2024.
In June 2024, Core Scientific signed a 12-year, $3.5 billion contract with CoreWeave, an AI cloud computing firm. The settlement allowed Core Scientific to make use of elements of its infrastructure to help CoreWeave’s high-performance computing wants, transferring away from solely mining Bitcoin to additionally offering AI companies.
Although the corporate’s income within the first quarter of 2025 fell to $79.5 million from $179.3 million the earlier yr, the AI technique boosted investor confidence. The firm’s inventory worth rose after the CoreWeave deal was introduced, reflecting market help for its new course.
By mid-2025, CoreWeave restarted talks to amass Core Scientific, following an unsuccessful $1 billion provide the yr earlier than. This renewed curiosity highlights how the corporate’s give attention to AI cushioned the influence of Bitcoin’s halving and positioned it as a key participant within the rising AI computing trade.
Hut 8’s AI facet hustle
Hut 8 has added AI as a secondary supply of revenue whereas persevering with to prioritize Bitcoin mining. This enterprise mannequin combines stability and development potential by means of a five-year contract that features mounted funds and a revenue-sharing element, guaranteeing regular revenue with alternatives for extra earnings primarily based on buyer success.
In September 2024, the corporate launched Highrise AI, a subsidiary providing GPU-as-a-Service utilizing over 1,000 Nvidia H100 chips, specialised {hardware} for coaching and working superior AI fashions. This transfer marked Hut 8’s official entry into the high-performance computing (HPC) market.
Despite its AI enterprise, Hut 8 stays devoted to Bitcoin mining. In the primary quarter of 2025, it mined 167 BTC, a lower from 716 BTC in the identical interval of 2024, largely because of the 2024 Bitcoin halving. The firm continues to put money into its mining infrastructure, supported by its important Bitcoin reserve of 10,273 BTC, making it the ninth-largest company Bitcoin holder worldwide.
For Hut 8, AI serves as a complementary technique, diversifying its income whereas conserving Bitcoin mining because the core of its long-term plan.
How are hybrid fashions gaining traction: Hive and Iren
As Bitcoin mining earnings shrink, hybrid fashions combining mining with AI compute are gaining floor. Companies like Hive and Iren are proving that it’s potential to develop AI income with out abandoning their Bitcoin roots. They are diversifying revenue whereas optimizing current infrastructure.
Hive Digital Technologies
Formerly referred to as Hive Blockchain, the corporate rebranded in mid-2023 to mirror its broader high-performance computing ambitions. Hive invested $30 million to deploy Nvidia-powered GPU clusters, marking a decisive pivot towards AI workloads.
This funding started to repay shortly. In fiscal 2025, Hive’s AI and HPC internet hosting income tripled to $10.1 million, nearly 9% of its complete income. Looking forward, Hive has set an formidable goal of $100 million in AI income by 2026, signaling a powerful dedication to increasing its hybrid mannequin.
Iren (Iris Energy)
Australian mining agency Iren started its AI journey in early 2024 with simply 248 GPUs, and by mid-2025, it had scaled as much as greater than 4,300 items. The agency’s hybrid mannequin is already producing outcomes, mining 1,514 BTC in Q3 FY2025 whereas pulling in $3.6 million from AI cloud companies. To help this development, Iren is constructing AI-focused information facilities in Texas and British Columbia.
Still, the corporate faces a problem: A category-action lawsuit filed in October 2024 alleges it misled traders in regards to the operational readiness of its Texas facility, casting a shadow over its in any other case promising growth.
How main Bitcoin miners are making ready for AI: Riot Platforms and MARA Holdings
While some Bitcoin miners have already begun incomes income from AI, others are constructing foundations for future AI alternatives. Riot Platforms and MARA Holdings, two main corporations within the mining trade, are strategically planning for AI integration whereas sustaining their give attention to Bitcoin mining.
Riot Platforms
Exploring AI prospects, Riot Platforms has began assessing the potential to transform 600 megawatts at its Corsicana, Texas, facility into high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure. Although Riot has not but secured important AI contracts, its Corsicana website, overlaying 355 acres, has the capability to help as much as 1 gigawatt of computing energy, giving it a decisive benefit.
Financially, Riot stays strong in its major enterprise, having mined 1,530 BTC and earned $142.9 million in mining income within the first quarter of 2025. The firm additionally holds 19,225 BTC (as of July 17, 2025), one of many largest company Bitcoin reserves worldwide.
MARA Holdings
MARA possesses probably the most intensive Bitcoin treasury amongst mining corporations, with 50,000 BTC, second solely to Strategy amongst public corporations. Its AI technique focuses on edge computing, together with growing its MARA 2PIC700 immersion cooling system, designed to deal with intensive computing duties.
While MARA has the infrastructure prepared, its AI efforts haven’t but resulted in important contracts or constant income. For now, a transfer into AI stays a forward-looking technique with potential for future development.
Did ? Bitcoin mining depends on ASICs, however AI wants GPUs like Nvidia’s H100s. Some miners at the moment are retrofitting information facilities with GPUs to help AI shoppers, creating dual-purpose infrastructure that balances each blockchain and AI calls for.
An outlier case: Canaan’s retreat from AI
While many Bitcoin mining corporations are exploring AI to broaden their revenue sources, Canaan has taken a special strategy.
In July 2025, the corporate closed its AI chip division, stepping away from the high-performance computing sector. This determination displays a renewed give attention to its major experience: designing application-specific built-in circuits (ASICs) for Bitcoin mining.
Instead of pursuing the rising AI market, Canaan is advancing its mining {hardware} to keep up a aggressive edge. Still, it holds solely 2.1% of the worldwide ASIC market, far behind main opponents like Bitmain and MicroBT.
By prioritizing mining-focused {hardware} and strengthening its presence in markets like North America, Canaan is adopting a novel technique when others are shifting towards AI. The long-term success of this strategy is but to be decided.
Did ? AI companies face stress to go inexperienced. Bitcoin miners that already use renewable power, like hydro or photo voltaic, can appeal to AI shoppers seeking to meet sustainability targets by means of clear colocation offers.
Key dangers and issues for miners coming into the AI market
As Bitcoin miners more and more shift to AI, this transition affords alternatives and important dangers. Miners should fastidiously think about the next:
- Infrastructure prices vs returns: Moving from ASIC-based mining to GPU-based AI methods requires substantial preliminary funding. Miners should be certain that the potential long-term income outweighs these prices.
- Client stability: AI shoppers, significantly startups, could lack constant funding or long-term reliability. Miners ought to fastidiously consider shoppers to keep away from fee defaults or service interruptions.
- Power provide reliability: AI operations demand steady, high-energy utilization. Miners should safe steady, long-term energy agreements and monitor native grid capability to stop outages or sudden worth will increase.
- Cooling and thermal administration: AI chips, corresponding to Nvidia H100s, produce important warmth. Inadequate cooling methods can result in gear failures or decreased effectivity.
- Regulatory compliance: Hosting AI workloads could contain advanced rules associated to information privateness, mental property, worldwide information internet hosting, power use, water consumption and carbon emissions. Miners should be ready to navigate these guidelines.
- Market competitors: As extra miners enter the AI colocation market, pricing may decline. Early entrants ought to set up benefits, corresponding to strategic places, low power prices or large-scale operations.
- Resource pressure: Expanding into AI whereas sustaining mining operations could overstretch monetary and administration assets.
