Bitcoin Miners Flock to AI Infrastructure Deals

Riot Platforms' stock surged 21.9% pre-market to $23.64 after announcing a $9.1 billion AI data center deal with Anthropic, marking a significant shift in the bitcoin mining sector.

The deal covers 191 megawatts at Riot's Rockdale, Texas campus over 20 years through June 2048, with extension options potentially pushing total value to $16.1 billion. Combined with a prior AMD agreement, Riot now has 241 MW contracted and roughly $9.8 billion in long-term revenue.

The market is rewarding contracted megawatts, not mined bitcoins, as evidenced by the sector-wide rally across major miners such as Cipher Mining, Hut 8 Corp, TeraWulf, CleanSpark, and Marathon Digital.