Core Scientific Suffers Mining Woes but Sees Bright Spot in AI Hosting

Crypto mining giant Core Scientific reported a staggering loss of $12.2 million in its self-mining segment for the second quarter, resulting from a negative 56% gross margin. This comes despite generating $21.5 million in revenue against $33.7 million in cost of revenue.

The company's high-density colocation business, however, shone with a 59% gross profit margin, producing $136.7 million in revenue and $80 million in gross profit. This segment's success far outpaced Core Scientific's consolidated total of $70 million due to losses from mining and other segments.

CFO Jim Nygaard stated that the company was operating its mining business primarily to offset contractual power costs during the wind-down, with nearly 30% fewer miners online than at the end of the first quarter. Core Scientific ended June with only two self-mining sites operational.