Since the latest Bitcoin halving cut block rewards in half, compressing revenues across the mining sector, large operators have been searching for ways to stabilize income streams.
Increasingly, they are leasing their energy footprints to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing clients. The model is not speculative; it is already being written into multiyear contracts.
In September, Cipher Mining signed a 168-megawatt agreement with Fluidstack, an AI cloud provider. The deal runs for ten years and is valued at $3 billion. Google provided financing support worth $1.4 billion and also acquired a 5% equity stake in Cipher.
The arrangement allows Cipher to maintain ownership of its facilities while converting part of its power allocation into contracted AI revenue.
TeraWulf, another U.S.-based miner, followed a similar path. It announced hosting agreements that dedicate more than 200 megawatts to AI workloads at its Lake Mariner site. Analysts estimate the value of the deal could exceed $3.7 billion.
The financial character of these companies is beginning to change. Miner equity has historically traded with a high correlation to the price of Bitcoin. New long-dated contracts give investors a different risk profile to consider. Regular dollar-denominated payments from AI customers may reduce the exposure of miner stocks to Bitcoin cycles.
Iren, an Australian operator, provides an example. It recently expanded its AI cloud business by purchasing more than 12,000 GPUs. The company projects $500 million in annual AI revenue by early 2026. Analysts at Arete initiated coverage on Iren, Riot Platforms, and Cipher Mining with buy ratings, citing the stability of contracted AI revenue as a driver.
The case of CoreWeave and Core Scientific stresses the point. CoreWeave, once an Ethereum miner, shifted into GPU-based hosting. In 2025, it acquired Core Scientific in a transaction valued at $9 billion. The deal cemented its place as a supplier of computing power for AI firms, moving entirely beyond token mining.
The entry into AI hosting is not simply diversification. It forces miners to rethink operations. Unlike Bitcoin mining, AI customers demand strict service level agreements. Data centers must offer redundancy, cooling efficiency, and long-term maintenance commitments. In practice, this means capital is redeployed from short-cycle ASIC purchases toward infrastructure upgrades that support higher-density workloads.
There is also the allocation question. Every megawatt committed to AI hosting cannot be used for Bitcoin mining. Operators will have to balance the immediate predictability of contracted revenue with the option value of a potential Bitcoin price rally.
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