Bitcoin Miners Bet Big on AI Data Centres Amid Profitability Woes

Bitcoin miners are increasingly shifting their power and equipment to artificial intelligence (AI) data centres in response to worsening profitability. The move is driven by AI infrastructure operators offering higher power rates and long-term contracts, which allows miners to monetise power assets that cannot generate sufficient returns from bitcoin mining alone.

Fred Thiel, chief executive of Mara Holdings, stated that 'If you supply power to AI, you can make more money than bitcoin mining.' The gross margin for the colocation business is 59%, but the gross margin for self-mining is negative.

Some listed miners are also following this trend. CoinShares tallied the cumulative value of AI and high-performance computing (HPC) contracts announced by listed miners this year at more than $70 billion. It estimated that by the end of 2026, up to 70% of listed bitcoin miners' revenue could come from AI businesses.

However, Andre Dragosch, head of research at Bitwise Europe, raised concerns about the timing of the shift. He noted that AI compute demand may not materialise as quickly as expected and warned that if bitcoin prices recover while miners keep capital and power capacity tied up in AI businesses over the next year, mining economics could revive.