Bitcoin Miners' Power Play Pays Off in AI Boom

The AI boom has created an unexpected winner in former bitcoin miners. Companies like Iren and TeraWulf, which initially built their business on cheap power to mine bitcoin, are now being revalued for their ability to provide large amounts of electricity connected to usable sites.

Iren's pivot is a prime example. The company's original business was finding cheap, abundant power in places like British Columbia and west Texas, then using that electricity to run bitcoin-mining machines.

However, with the rise of AI, these companies are now being seen as potential infrastructure providers for data centres. Iren has signed five-year contracts with Microsoft worth around $9.7bn and Nvidia worth around $3.4bn, providing access to GPU capacity at its Texas campus.

The company has also secured a $3.65bn GPU financing facility with investment-grade ratings from Fitch and DBRS. This financing covers most of the GPU capital spending tied to the Microsoft contract, creating a new collateral trade.