HIVE Exec: AI GPUs Earn 10x More per Hour Than Mining Rigs

The Math Behind the 10x Claim

Holmes laid retired the examination during the Roundtable 100 series earlier this week, arguing that HIVE’s pivot into artificial quality (AI) infrastructure has opened a gross watercourse that dwarfs what the aforesaid hardware could gain mining bitcoin. A 504-GPU Nvidia B200 clump HIVE runs astatine Bell Canada’s AI cloth successful Manitoba earns astir $2.90 per GPU-hour, compared with the astir $0.12 per hr HIVE’s bitcoin mining rigs generate, a spread of much than 20 times by that circumstantial measure.

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The examination is cardinal to however Holmes has enactment distant HIVE’s strategy heading into the second fractional of the year, i.e. alternatively than treating AI compute and bitcoin mining arsenic competing uses of the aforesaid powerfulness and hardware, the institution is directing much of its infrastructure walk toward the higher-margin concern portion keeping its mining cognition running.

That mining cognition is inactive substantial, fixed HIVE’s mean hashrate for fiscal 2026 came successful astatine 22.2 exahashes per second (EH/s), up 290% from a twelvemonth earlier, giving the institution astir 3% of the full bitcoin network’s hashrate. The institution mined 2,885 BTC during the aforesaid period, much than treble the 1,414 BTC it mined successful fiscal 2025.

A Diversified Balance Sheet

HIVE’s full fiscal 2026 gross reached $297.8 million, a 158% summation twelvemonth implicit year, with integer currency gross from bitcoin mining up 164%. The company’s newer BUZZ HPC division, which houses its AI and high-performance computing (HPC) business, generated $19.5 cardinal successful revenue, up 94% from $10 cardinal the anterior year.

The AI pivot is not caller for HIVE fixed that the institution made a $70 cardinal stake connected Nvidia chips astir 3 years ago, astatine a clip erstwhile astir of its GPU fleet was mining ether earlier that network’s determination to proof-of-stake eliminated GPU mining altogether. Holmes has said that aboriginal wager, initially postured astir Ethereum mining, gave his institution a caput commencement erstwhile the AI computing roar created caller request for the aforesaid hardware.

That infrastructure has since attracted extracurricular validation. Chardan Capital, for instance, initiated sum of HIVE connected July 27 with a “Buy” standing and a $7.50 terms target, the company’s first-ever sell-side expert rating. HIVE has besides signed a astir $220 cardinal GPU unreality statement with Bell and AI steadfast Cohere, and raised $75 cardinal done a enactment offering earmarked for further AI infrastructure buildout.

The Bigger Bet: A 320 MW AI Hub

HIVE’s astir ambitious task is simply a 320-megawatt (MW) AI information halfway nether operation successful the Greater Toronto Area, designed to yet big much than 100,000 GPUs. The institution has said the installation could make astir $360 cardinal successful annualized recurring gross erstwhile afloat online successful the 2nd fractional of 2027.

That said, HIVE is acold from unsocial successful making this pivot, arsenic rival miner MARA excessively has said that AI compute earns much revenue per portion of energy than bitcoin mining, directing scarce powerfulness toward AI and HPC contracts instead. Similarly, Hut 8 has struck a Texas AI lease worthy astir $9.8 billion, portion Terawulf has locked successful AI contracts worthy $12.8 billion, portion of a broader displacement crossed publically traded miners arsenic bitcoin mining margins tighten and hashprice slides.

That borderline unit has been gathering each twelvemonth connected the mining broadside of the concern since Bitcoin’s difficulty has adjusted 15 times this twelvemonth alone, with mining economics squeezed further arsenic much megawatts get redirected toward AI and cloud-computing customers alternatively of caller mining capacity.

HIVE’s near-term people is to turn its AI and HPC run-rate gross tenfold from existent levels by its fiscal year-end, a extremity that would necessitate the Toronto installation and further GPU unreality contracts to travel online mostly connected schedule.