Bitcoin Miners Abandon Ship as AI Data Centers Become More Lucrative
Publicly traded Bitcoin miners are rapidly exiting the space as AI and high-performance computing data centers offer more lucrative returns. Keel Infrastructure (NASDAQ: KEEL), formerly known as Bitfarms, has become the first listed miner to reach zero hashrate after shutting down its final mining sites at Panther Creek, Scrubgrass, and Sharon on June 29. The company sold approximately 1,085 BTC for $75 million and plans to liquidate its remaining coins by year-end.
Core Scientific (NASDAQ: CORZ) paid $41.9 million to terminate an agreement covering over 15 exahashes per second of next-generation 3nm mining chips from Block's Proto division. The company now operates its remaining machines solely to offset contractual power obligations while converting sites for other uses.
Cipher Digital (NASDAQ: CIFR) expects to be out of the Bitcoin mining business by the end of 2027, and IREN (NASDAQ: IREN) disclosed that its transition away from mining will be substantially complete by year-end. At least 35 EH/s is scheduled to leave the listed miner group in Q3 as IREN and Cipher complete their transitions.