Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Slumps But These Mining Stocks Are Up Thanks to AI Deals

Bitcoin may be slumping — along with the Nasdaq in general — but one technology investment seems to be doing well: publicly-traded mining companies. 

Top U.S. Bitcoin mining companies — Hut 8, CleanSpark, and MARA — all experienced gains between 3-7% on Thursday, despite a sell-off across other assets. 

The Bitcoin price was down about 2% Thursday, trading for $64,760. Major stock indices also took a hit — including the tech heavy Nasdaq — but a handful of miners continued to rally on new deals related to high-powered computing and artificial intelligence. 

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.

And on Tuesday, IREN Limited signed $2.8 billion in new AI cloud contracts. Formerly a Bitcoin miner, IREN is now transitioning to mostly providing high-powered computing to power AI demand. 

Both experienced price jumps Thursday morning in New York, with Hut 8 sustaining its rally. 

AI deals 

A number of Bitcoin miners are focusing on the industry as minting the biggest cryptocurrency becomes harder and demand for AI compute surges. 

As the price Bitcoin has dipped, it has become harder for Bitcoin miners to make ends meet. 

Instead of dropping mining operations completely, a number of Bitcoin miners have instead marketed themselves as “compute” or “digital infrastructure” companies while switching between minting digital coins and providing compute for AI — depending on which is more profitable.

Top miners Terawulf, IREN, and Cipher Mining all last year signed multi-year HPC contracts with Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft.

Both the crypto mining and HPC industries require huge amounts of energy and data centers. However, running AI data centres require more expertise than Bitcoin mining.

This post Bitcoin Slumps But These Mining Stocks Are Up Thanks to AI Deals first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Miner Hut 8 Shares Jump on $9.8 Billion AI Data Center Deal

Bitcoin miner Hut 8’s shares rose Monday after the Toronto Stock Exchange- and Nasdaq-listed firm said it had signed a second 15-year lease ​worth $9.8 billion for its AI data center. 

Hut 8 shares peaked as high as $106 a pop before dropping to around $101. They closed Monday up over 10%. 

The deal will see the Toronto-based firm’s Beacon Point campus in Texas data center cover 352 ​megawatts of IT capacity. The tenant using the data center’s will have its capacity doubled to 704 MW.

Hut 8 added that the campus has a base-term contract value of $19.6 billion over 15 years, rising to as much as $50.2 billion if renewal options are exercised.

Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8, said: “The real test of our power-first approach is what our partners are willing to commit against it. Our tenant at Beacon Point chose to double its footprint at the site, the strongest validation an asset can receive.”

Hut 8 last year signed a deal with American Data Centers Inc., a company backed by President Donald Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr., to contribute its Bitcoin mining equipment and help debut their American Bitcoin mining firm. 

AI pivot

Hut 8 is one of a number of top publicly listed miners that have started directing resources to providing the infrastructure for high-powered computing.

The company in December secured a Google-backed partnership with Anthropic and Fluidstack to build up to 2.3 gigawatts of AI data center capacity in the U.S.

JUST IN: #Bitcoin mining company Hut 8 just announced it partnered with Google for financial backing on a 15-year lease.

Bullish pic.twitter.com/NQN9JmW0ob

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) December 17, 2025

A number of Bitcoin miners have already gone all-in on the industry as minting the biggest digital coin by market cap becomes harder and demand for AI compute surges. 

As the price Bitcoin has dipped, it has become harder for Bitcoin miners to make ends meet. 

Nasdaq-listed Bitfarms last year announced that it would wind down mining operations to focus on high-performance computing.

Instead of dropping mining operations completely, a number of Bitcoin miners have instead marketed themselves as “compute” or “digital infrastructure” companies while switching between minting digital coins and providing compute for AI — depending on which is more profitable.

Top miners Terawulf, IREN, and Cipher Mining all last year signed multi-year HPC contracts with Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft.

Both the crypto mining and HPC industries require huge amounts of energy and data centers — but the move isn’t always easy: AI data centres require more expertise than Bitcoin mining.

This post Bitcoin Miner Hut 8 Shares Jump on $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.