Computing power is one of the driving factors behind the mining of major cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (and Bitcoin news) being among the most prominent. As challenges begin to mount regarding the energy and cost needed to mine these coins, prominent mining companies are making the move to AI data centers and cloud services.
Australia has seen a major shift in that regard, but the world at large has also been seeing major pivots from crypto mining companies. Why the move into the AI space? What benefits can it provide? Let’s take a closer look at the market.
Why the Shift?
Crypto mining companies are staring down smaller margins than ever before. There are a plethora of reasons for the move to cloud services and AI data centers. Here are the most prominent reasons:
Cost Reduction and Efficiency
At the end of the day, any company seeks to reduce its costs while improving efficiency. By consolidating mining operations into data centers, these mining companies are able to take advantage of scale economics while increasing efficiency and reducing overall costs.
Leveraging Infrastructure
Making major changes often comes with new costs to shift to different systems. By leveraging current infrastructure, data centers already have access to cheap, substantial energy sources and advanced cooling systems. That infrastructure can be repurposed to AI without having to make significant investment.
Diversification
The profitability of cryptocurrency is extremely volatile. Because of that, the current model is tough to predict. By making a shift to AI data centers, miners are seeing more predictable and stable revenue streams, mostly because of long-term contracts through enterprise clients.
Meeting Demand
The growth and dependency on AI has created a much larger demand for data center infrastructure and increased computing power. Crypto mining companies can take advantage of that by offering their current facilities for AI hosting, increasing potential revenue streams.
Increased Value
With colocation/build-to-suit data center models, crypto mining companies can see a major shift in valuation accretion. The ability to access new sources of income and seeing better predictability of cash flows make AI data centers a much more attractive option.
Leading Bitcoin Mining Companies Moving to AI Data Centers
The largest Bitcoin mining companies, not just in Australia but around the globe, are making the move to AI data centers and cloud services. Here is a list of the largest Bitcoin mining companies and why they are pivoting.
CoreWeave
CoreWeave’s initial IPO is estimated at around $35 billion, though it recorded more than $863 million in losses for fiscal year 2024. It has since undergone a transition from crypto mining fully into high-performance computing and AI. It now has 32 dedicated data centers operating across both the U.S. and Europe and has more than 250,000 GPUs deployed.
More importantly, CoreWeave secured a massive five-year, $11.9 billion contract with OpenAI. This shows not only the massive growth potential of AI infrastructure, but also emphasizes the utilization of renewable energy. CoreWeave is targeting 100% renewable power for its future expansions.
Riot Platforms (RIOT)
Riot Platforms has a market cap of nearly $2.6 billion and recently achieved a 29% profit margin. That equates to more than $109 million in net income for the final quarte of 2024. Riot Platforms operates 31.5 EH/s hashrate through multiple data center locations, the most prominent in Rockdale and Corsicana, Texas.
With an overall capacity of 1 GW, Riot has engaged advisors that it has a strategic expansion into high-performance computing (HPC) in mind. The plan is to dedicate as much as 600 MW to AI-focused ventures that include cloud computing.
Marathon (MARA)
With a value north of $4.3 billion and Q4 2024 profit of $528 million, Marathon is among the biggest player making the move to AI data centers and cloud services. Currently, Marathon operates around 40 EH/s of Bitcoin mining hashrate.
Additionally, Marathon maintains just over 600 WM of data center capacity. It has strategic sites in Texas, UAE, and North Dakota. Additionally, the company is piloting AI interference projects. This signals a transition towards broader GPU deployments with a focus on renewable sources that will supply about 40-50% of its overall energy needs.
Hut 8 Mining (HUT)
With a market cap of approximately $1.16 billion – but a loss in fiscal year 2024, Hut 8 is one of the more interesting names on the list. Its losses come largely because of the closure of an Alberta facility but was mitigated from revenue coming from HPC and hosting segments.
Following a merger, its infrastructure has been expanded to handle around 675 MW across both the United States and Canada. The company is also making an aggressive pivot into the AI sphere, having already launched five dedicated HPC data centers as well as its own advanced GPU cloud platform.
CleanSpark (CLSK)
With a current valuation of $2.24 billion, CleanSpark is one of the risers to watch after a net profit of $242 million in Q4 2024. CleanSpark operates at around 40 EH/s of mining hashrate while maintaining a data center footprint in Georgia of 726 MW.
CLSK has a planned expansion ahead, moving to 915 MW. Different from its peers, CleanSpark doesn’t have any plans to move into AI infrastructure but has chosen instead to focus on mining efficiency. Rather than AI, it is using zero-carbon and nuclear sources instead.
Bitfarms Ltd. (BITF)
With a valuation of roughly $750 million, Bitfarms has 13 different mining facilities across the United States, Argentina, Paraguay, and Canada. It also recently reached 15.2 EH/s as of January 2025.
Bitfarms has become known for a favorable energy profile because of their leverage of hydropower. Bitfarms is also considering expansion into AI and HPC infrastructure. It has already taken moves by hiring senior leadership to push the strategy forward in the near future.
IREN
The Australian-based miner announced that it has paused mining expansion in favor of redirecting its growth plans toward AI data centers and cloud services. When the expansion has been completed, it will be at 52 ZEH/s, generating roughly $528 million in annual cashflow.
IREN is currently at 35 EH/s capacity, though the expansion is expected to be completed in the coming months. The move has seen a lower market share for IREN but when the move has been completed, IREN is anticipating an uptick in growth. These are just a few of the most notable names in the crypto mining space that are making the shift.
Final Word
More and more mining companies are seeing the benefits of making a pivot to AI data centers and cloud computing. The energy savings alone are proving to be substantial, but it is allowing these major mining companies to expand operations rapidly.
In the face of an evolving compute landscape and slimmer margins, miners are looking to improve performance and become more efficient through high-performance computing (HPC) and AI workloads. With cheaper power, larger data centers, and a shift to maximize the existing infrastructure, there could be new revenue streams available as well.
