Bitcoin Miners Unplug Amid Surge in AI Revenue

Bitcoin miners have been unplugging from their operations at an alarming rate, according to recent data. A staggering 23% of miners have shut down their facilities, resulting in a 15% contraction in realized hashrate.

This trend is largely driven by the increasing demand for AI infrastructure. Public miners have redirected a significant amount of power towards AI retrofitting, with some companies reporting a 52% increase in HPC and AI revenue compared to the first quarter.

The shift towards AI infrastructure is expensive, however. PwC estimates that the broader AI data-center buildout could require $31.6 trillion through 2050. In the latest quarter, public miners and their peers spent a combined $18.6 billion on capex.

But how valuable is an AI megawatt-hour compared to traditional mining compute? Estimates range from approximately $86 to $300 per MWh for HPC revenue, with a median of around $180. For data center operators like CoreWeave, the cost of hosting can reach as high as $322 per MWh.