Ionic Revenue Surges 31% as AI Leasing Replaces Bitcoin Mining

Ionic Digital Inc., a company formed in January 2024 through the acquisition of bitcoin-mining assets from bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network, reported a 31% increase in second-quarter revenue. Revenue rose to $48.6 million in the three months ended June 30 from $37.2 million a year earlier.

The majority of Ionic's revenue, 90%, comes from leasing infrastructure for AI workloads. Its Ward County, Texas, property stopped mining bitcoin in December and is now leased to AI infrastructure provider Nscale under a 126-month triple-net lease with fixed rent payments beginning August 1.

The agreement represents about $1.95 billion of contracted revenue through January 2037. Under a triple-net structure, the tenant bears expenses including taxes, insurance, and maintenance. Ionic is seeking regulatory approval to expand Ward County to 700 megawatts by the end of 2027, but there's a risk that the additional capacity cannot be assumed until Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) completes its review.

Ionic reaffirmed its 2026 outlook for revenue of $190 million to $195 million and adjusted Ebitda of $137.5 million to $142.5 million, with infrastructure leasing accounting for 90% to 92% of revenue. The company held $415.7 million of cash and 2,882 bitcoin valued at $168.7 million at June 30.