$100 Billion AI Backlog Tests Miners' Transition to High-Growth Sector
Bitcoin miners have amassed over $100 billion in AI contracts, but most of this revenue has yet to materialize. According to CoinShares, publicly traded miners have signed deals for more than 4 gigawatts of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing capacity, but only about 550 megawatts are currently generating revenue.
Investors are assigning a premium to companies making the AI transition, with those having contracted AI or HPC capacity trading at an average of 12.9 times enterprise value to next-12-month sales, compared to 3.7 times for miners without such agreements.
The value of existing mining campuses is rising as new moratoriums and restrictions on environmental permits are limiting the development of new facilities. This has created a shortage of grid-connected power, turning mining sites into premium AI assets.
Some companies have already begun to transition their operations away from Bitcoin mining. IREN plans to substantially complete its move by December 31, while Cipher Digital has stopped planning new mining capital expenditure and expects Bitcoin production to become immaterial ahead of a likely exit by the end of 2027.