Bitcoin Miners Pivot to Infrastructure Play with High-Performance Computing Deals

Bitcoin miners Riot Platforms, TeraWulf, and Mara are transforming their business models to resemble infrastructure firms, according to Morgan Stanley. The investment bank says these companies are starting to focus on leasing out their access to power for high-performance computing (HPC) rather than solely betting on the price of Bitcoin.

This shift is driven by the fact that Bitcoin mining is a power-hungry business, and miners that control large electricity sites can reuse that advantage when demand for data centers rises. Morgan Stanley highlighted recent deals as evidence of this trend, including Riot's new Rockdale agreement, which converts a large block of controlled power into an HPC lease.

The bank also pointed to TeraWulf's transaction as validation that revenue per unit of power can become more predictable. Mara is earlier in the pivot, but Morgan Stanley expects it to land an HPC deal by year-end through its Starwood joint venture.

As a result of this shift, Riot and TeraWulf may trade more on how quickly they scale lease-backed cash flows and on the quality of their customers and contract terms. Mara's story hinges on execution: whether it can sign its first major HPC deal and follow through on plans to secure at least two leases through the Starwood venture by year-end.