Bitcoin miners gambled on AI last year, and it paid off

Bitcoin miners turned to the rising AI inclination up of the 2024 halving, which chopped artifact rewards to 3.125 Bitcoin (BTC).

Some conscionable dipped their toes in, portion others dove deeper, repurposing rigs, raising recognition and signing billion-dollar deals.

But how’s that spinoff moving retired successful reality? In immoderate instances, the determination has been a lifeline that generates much-needed gross arsenic their Bitcoin net dropped. For others, it’s much of a information nett that tin cushion aboriginal halving shocks.

Here’s a look astatine what’s happened to the biggest crypto mining firms since their AI pivot.

AI pivot saved this Bitcoin miner

Core Scientific is among the biggest revival stories for Bitcoin miners whose AI pivot saved its struggling business.

Core Scientific is among the uncommon miners whose banal has soared since the April 2024 halving. Source: Nasdaq

The institution filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy successful precocious 2022. It emerged successful aboriginal 2024 to relist connected the Nasdaq, past shifted from a axenic Bitcoin miner to a colocation work supplier by leasing retired information centers to AI firms. It signed a 12-year, $3.5-billion woody with CoreWeave successful June 2024 to big CoreWeave’s high-performance computing (HPC) operations.

Core Scientific reported its Q1 gross fell to $79.5 million, down from $179.3 cardinal a twelvemonth earlier. It cited the Bitcoin halving reward slash and the operational displacement to HPC hosting arsenic the superior reasons for the gross drop. A surge successful Bitcoin’s terms since the halving has offset immoderate of the losses.

Related: Bitcoin Knots summation ground: Will a concatenation divided termination BTC price?

In precocious June 2025, CoreWeave resumed talks to get Core Scientific, pursuing a failed $1-billion buyout effort successful 2024. News of the renewed negotiations sent Core Scientific’s banal soaring.

AI remains a broadside hustle for astir Bitcoin miners

Hut 8’s AI ambitions took existent signifier successful September 2024, erstwhile the institution formally launched its GPU-as-a-Service offering done a caller subsidiary, Highrise AI. 

The pivot saw Hut 8 deploy implicit 1,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs — specialized chips wide utilized for grooming and moving AI models — to thrust its cloud-based AI compute services. The motorboat came with a five-year fixed-payment and revenue-share woody arsenic revenues for Bitcoin miners tightened pursuing the April 2024 halving event.

Hut 8 continues expanding its Bitcoin concern contempt quarterly loss. Source: Cointelegraph

By Q1 2025, the company’s Bitcoin mining had produced 167 BTC, down from 716 BTC the twelvemonth before. Though the institution posted a quarterly nett nonaccomplishment of $134.3 million, its CEO, Asher Genoot, said its fiscal show was a effect of deliberate investments that resulted successful a 79% summation successful its hashrate. It besides holds 10,273 BTC, which is the ninth-largest publically listed firm Bitcoin treasury.

AI remains a tiny portion of Hut 8’s concern exemplary arsenic the institution continues to grow its Bitcoin business. Most recently, American Bitcoin, a majority-owned subsidiary of Hut 8, announced a $220-million rise to acquisition Bitcoin mining equipment. Sons of US President Donald Trump are among the founders of American Bitcoin, of which Hut 8 acquired a bulk involvement successful the steadfast successful precocious March. 

AI is simply a increasing gross pastry for these Bitcoin miners

Bitcoin miners similar Iren and Hive are starting to spot meaningful gross from AI, adjacent if mining inactive dominates their books.

In aboriginal 2024, Australian miner Iren (formerly Iris Energy) began purchasing Nvidia GPUs. By February, it had signed its archetypal AI declaration powered by 248 GPUs. As of mid-2025, the institution has deployed astir 4,300 GPUs. In Q3 fiscal twelvemonth 2025 (ended March 31), Iren mined 1,514 BTC, up from 1,232 BTC the erstwhile quarter.

Iren’s AI concern is increasing alongside its Bitcoin production. Source: Iren

Meanwhile, AI unreality gross climbed 33% to $3.6 million. The institution is besides preparing a liquid-cooled AI information halfway successful Texas and a purpose-built tract successful British Columbia, Canada, susceptible of lodging up to 20,000 GPUs. However, a class-action lawsuit filed successful October 2024 alleged Iren misled investors astir the readiness of its Texas facility.

Related: Bitcoin hashrate down 15%, 26 firms adhd BTC to equilibrium sheets: June successful charts

Hive began its AI displacement successful mid-2023 with a rebrand from Hive Blockchain and a absorption connected Nvidia-powered compute clusters. After small-scale aboriginal deployments, Hive invested $30 cardinal successful December 2024 to rotation retired GPUs successful Quebec, Canada. By mid-2025, it had implicit 5,000 units deployed. 

For its 2025 fiscal year, Hive generated $115.3 cardinal successful revenue, with $10.1 cardinal — triple the anterior twelvemonth — from AI and HPC hosting. That present makes up astir 9% of full revenue.

Hive targets $100 cardinal successful AI gross successful 2026. Source: Hive Digital Technologies

Top Bitcoin miner treasuries aren’t the champion performers

Riot Platforms and MARA Holdings are 2 of the largest names successful Bitcoin mining, but some are present laying the groundwork for a post-mining future.

Riot began exploring AI and HPC workloads successful aboriginal 2025, launching a ceremonial valuation to person up to 600 megawatts astatine its Corsicana, Texas installation into high-performance infrastructure. The displacement came with a intermission connected further Bitcoin mining buildout astatine the site. Riot hasn’t signed immoderate large AI contracts yet, but its Corsicana tract — spanning 355 acres and yet susceptible of handling 1 gigawatt of powerfulness — positions it good to pull hyperscaler clients successful the future.

Riot and MARA are among the apical 5 publically listed companies holding Bitcoin. Source: BitcoinTreasuries.NET

Riot remains financially beardown successful Bitcoin. In Q1 2025, it mined 1,530 BTC, generating $142.9 cardinal successful mining gross — treble its Q1 2024 gross of $71.4 million. Riot attributed the summation to higher Bitcoin prices and accrued operational hashrate. It besides holds 19,225 BTC, making it the fourth-largest firm Bitcoin holder globally.

MARA holds the largest Bitcoin treasury among miners and is 2nd lone to MicroStrategy among each nationalist companies with 50,000 BTC.

In March 2024, MARA revealed its MARA 2PIC700, an immersion cooling strategy designed for dense compute workloads, including AI and crypto mining. By mid-2024, the steadfast rebranded its broader strategy arsenic an “edge computing” play.

By aboriginal 2025, MARA began piloting 2 HPC trial sites, each handling astir 30 megawatts utilizing its 2PIC700 cooling system.

The pivot hasn’t yet translated into large contracts oregon recurring currency flows for some Bitcoin producers, but their Bitcoin equilibrium shows wherefore they’re not hopeless to diversify AI expansion.

The Bitcoin miner that ditched AI

While galore Bitcoin mining firms are leaning into AI and high-performance computing, ASIC shaper Canaan is heading successful the other direction. In July 2025, the institution announced it was shutting down its AI spot division. 

With conscionable 2.1% of the planetary ASIC market, Canaan remains a tiny subordinate compared to Bitmain oregon MicroBT. 

By focusing squarely connected mining hardware and pursuing semipermanent resilience successful North America, it’s carving a chiseled way successful a assemblage different enamored with AI.

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