Bitcoin Miners Losing Correlation with BTC Amid Shift to AI and Computing

Tom Lee's recent analysis of crypto-linked equities shows that Bitcoin mining stocks are losing their correlation with BTC. According to Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, this shift is driven by miners transitioning toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. In a comparison of 90-day correlations between major crypto-linked equities and BlackRock's Bitcoin and Ethereum funds, Strategy (MSTR) recorded the strongest Bitcoin correlation at 78%. BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), which Lee chairs, led Ethereum exposure at 80%, while Coinbase followed with a 74% ETH correlation. However, Bitcoin miners ranked much lower, with Core Scientific (CORZ) posting only a 16% correlation with Bitcoin.

The weakening connection reflects the mining industry's growing pivot toward AI data centers and computing infrastructure. Companies such as Core Scientific generated $164.2 million in quarterly revenue through June, including $136.7 million from colocation services and just $21.5 million from self-mining. TeraWulf showed a similar transition, earning $21 million from high-performance computing capacity compared with $13 million from mining.

IREN remained more exposed to crypto, generating $111.2 million from mining and $33.6 million from AI cloud services in its March quarter. The figures suggest miners become less correlated with Bitcoin as AI revenue grows. Companies already control valuable power contracts and data center infrastructure, allowing them to generate recurring revenue by leasing capacity to AI customers.