Bitcoin Magazine

Benchmark Raises Hut 8 Price Target After Bitcoin Miner Signs $9.8 Billion AI Data Center Deal

Investment bank Benchmark has raised its price target on Bitcoin miner Hut 8 following news that the company had signed a second 15-year lease ​worth $9.8 billion for its AI data center.

Equity research analyst Mark Palmer reiterated his “buy” rating on the Toronto- and Nasdaq-listed miner in a note Wednesday, raising its price target to $195, up from $165 — an 80% upside from Hut 8’s current share price of nearly $110 a pop. 

Palmer argued that the deal validates Hut 8’s “power-first” approach to building out AI infrastructure. 

Hut 8 announced Monday that it had signed a second 15-year lease for 352 megawatts of IT capacity at its Beacon Point campus in Nueces County, Texas — doubling the site’s tenant to 704 MW of contracted capacity and fully commercializing the campus against its 1,000 MW of utility capacity. Hut 8 shares climbed over 10% on the news, closing near $101 after peaking above $106.

Palmer estimates the new Beacon Point lease alone could contribute roughly $655 million a year in net operating income once stabilized, pushing the campus’s total contract value as high as $50.2 billion if renewal options are exercised.

Hut 8 is among a growing list of publicly traded Bitcoin miners pivoting toward AI and high-performance computing as mining margins get squeezed by a falling Bitcoin price and rising difficulty. 

The company struck a Google-backed deal in December with Anthropic and Fluidstack to build out as much as 2.3 gigawatts of AI data center capacity in the U.S.

Hut 8’s mining ventures

Rivals including Terawulf, IREN, and Cipher Mining have signed similar multi-year HPC contracts with Google and Microsoft, while Bitfarms said last year it would wind down its mining operations entirely to focus on high-performance computing. 

Hut 8, by contrast, has kept its mining business running through its majority stake in American Bitcoin, the mining venture backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

Hut 8 is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings on August 4.

This post Benchmark Raises Hut 8 Price Target After Bitcoin Miner Signs $9.8 Billion AI Data Center Deal first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

Keel Infrastructure to Consolidate Three Bitcoin Sites Into One AI Campus

Keel Infrastructure Corp. has secured a set of approvals that push its data center project in Sherbrooke, Québec, toward construction. 

The City of Sherbrooke cleared the North American digital infrastructure and energy company to enter into an agreement with Hydro-Sherbrooke for the transfer and operation of 96 megawatts of existing capacity, along with a purchase agreement for the land where the campus will rise.

The power agreement lets Keel consolidate three of its current Bitcoin mining sites in the province into a single 96 MW campus. The company did not request additional power, a choice that preserves the use of current electrical infrastructure and keeps the project in step with Québec’s energy priorities. 

Keel won approval to recategorize the 96 MW from Bitcoin mining to high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, the workload class that draws capital across the sector.

A broader pivot from Bitcoin to AI

That pivot mirrors a broad shift. Public miners across the industry have moved to repurpose energized sites for compute, a trend visible in deals such as CleanSpark’s $6.6 billion data center lease and the company’s own decision to exit Bitcoin mining in favor of AI.

Investors reward operators that control power and built-out sites, though the transition carries risk. VanEck has warned that miners chasing AI infrastructure confront a $50 billion funding gap as capital flows to firms with capacity in hand.

The Sherbrooke footprint traces back to the company’s construction of mining farms in the city, which drew on the province’s low-cost hydro power. Keel will fold that base into one campus rather than build fresh demand into the grid.

Two conditions remain. Transfer of the energy capacity to the new site requires review and approval from Québec’s Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy. The land purchase, for a parcel about 100 miles east of Montréal, is subject to customary conditions that include site inspections, feasibility analysis, and municipal approvals. Keel expects that transaction to close in the first quarter of 2027.

“These developments represent an important step forward in the development of our Sherbrooke project, which will be one of the largest data center projects in Québec,” said Philippe Fortier, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development at Keel. “The City’s approval of these agreements reflects the strength of the project and our commitment to the Sherbrooke community.”

Fortier added that the company has operated in Québec since its inception and views the project as a long-term commitment to the local and provincial economies. Keel aims to build the campus on a lasting relationship with its host community.

This post Keel Infrastructure to Consolidate Three Bitcoin Sites Into One AI Campus first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

CleanSpark Signs $6.6 Billion Data Center Lease as Bitcoin Miner Pivots to Compute

CleanSpark, the Nasdaq-listed bitcoin miner, said on July 14 that it has signed a 20-year infrastructure lease with an unnamed high-investment-grade global technology company at its campus in Sandersville, Georgia. 

The deal marks the firm’s largest step from pure bitcoin mining toward high-performance computing for hyperscale clients.

The lease covers data center infrastructure that will support 175 megawatts of critical IT load. CleanSpark expects the initial term to generate $6.6 billion in contracted revenue, a figure that would climb to $11.6 billion if the tenant exercises both extension options. 

The company has recently announced that it would repurpose part of its electricity capacity and mining infrastructure to power AI data centers, aiming to diversify beyond bitcoin mining. 

CleanSparks’ average annual net operating income from the agreement should reach $330 million. First deliveries are due in the fourth quarter of 2027.

In a further sign of the tenant’s appetite, the two sides executed a letter of intent and an exclusivity arrangement covering CleanSpark’s entire Texas portfolio, a base of up to 885 megawatts of secured and planned power capacity. Should that convert into firm contracts, CleanSpark’s transition into an infrastructure landlord for artificial-intelligence and cloud workloads would deepen.

CleanSpark holds 13,924 bitcoin

The announcement lands as CleanSpark’s core mining business posts records. The company produced 614 bitcoin in early July and lifted its operational hashrate to 50 exahashes per second, a company high. 

Treasury holdings rose to 13,924 bitcoin, one of the larger corporate stashes among public miners. Management has kept much of its mined bitcoin rather than sell into the market, a bet on the asset’s long-term price.

Wall Street has warmed to the compute pivot. Citizens began coverage with an Outperform rating and a $27 price target, citing the shift toward hyperscale compute capacity. Chardan lifted its target to $19 from $16 and kept a Buy rating. Both notes framed the Sandersville lease as proof that CleanSpark can monetize its power and land assets beyond mining, where margins swing with bitcoin’s price and network difficulty.

Investor reaction has been mixed. Shares of CleanSpark gained more than 20% in pre-market on the news but have since dropped to 9% gains on the day. 

The Georgia lease offers somewhat of a hedge. Contracted rent from a creditworthy tenant provides a revenue stream that does not rise and fall with hash prices, while the company keeps its mining fleet and bitcoin treasury intact. 

The next test is execution: bringing 175 megawatts online before the close of 2027 and turning the Texas letter of intent into signed leases.

This post CleanSpark Signs $6.6 Billion Data Center Lease as Bitcoin Miner Pivots to Compute first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.