Bitcoin Miners' AI Pivot Fades to Black

Bitcoin miners' pivot to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing is changing their business models, but investors are no longer rewarding new infrastructure deals with the same enthusiasm as before.

According to a report by Blocksbridge Consulting published in TheEnergyMag's Miner Weekly, market reaction to AI infrastructure announcements has weakened significantly over the past two years. Reviewing 25 AI and HPC infrastructure deals announced between June 2024 and August 2026, the report found that the average announcement-day stock move fell from roughly 24% for the earliest deals to about 10% for the most recent ones.

Median gains also dropped by roughly half over the same period, even as the size and value of the contracts increased. The report found that annualized revenue per contracted megawatt has edged higher over time, indicating that AI hosting agreements are becoming more lucrative. However, as such deals become increasingly common, investors appear to be placing greater emphasis on execution, financing and long-term profitability than on headline contract values alone.

The shift is evident in how the market has responded to major announcements. Core Scientific's initial hosting agreement with CoreWeave sent its shares up more than 40%, while Applied Digital's first CoreWeave lease gained nearly 49% and TeraWulf's first Fluidstack deal surged almost 60%. More recent mega-deals have drawn a much more muted response, such as TeraWulf's 401-megawatt lease with Anthropic, which lifted its shares by about 5%, CleanSpark's $6.6 billion AI hosting agreement gained nearly 9%, and Bitdeer's new Tydal contract briefly pushed the stock up roughly 12% before those gains disappeared by the market close.