Bitcoin miners are ditching digital pickaxes to become leading AI infrastructure providers. IREN inks a $9.7 billion deal with Microsoft as sector stocks surge 100% to 580%. A groundbreaking industrial revolution is unfolding, catching Wall Street's attention.
The spectacular transition of Bitcoin miners toward artificial intelligence is redefining the rules of the game in the crypto industry. After the halving of April 2024 that cut mining rewards in half, the sector’s profitability collapsed. Operators have had to fundamentally rethink their business model.
IREN, formerly Iris Energy, experienced a brutal decline before orchestrating an impressive comeback. Since its rebranding in November 2024 and strategic pivot toward AI, the stock has climbed by more than 580%. Riot Platforms, TeraWulf and Cipher Mining are following the same trajectory with stock gains ranging between 100% and 360%. These performances demonstrate renewed market confidence in this new positioning.
The main advantage of these companies lies in their existing infrastructure. Years of investment in massive energy capacities and sophisticated cooling systems allow them to quickly shift from blockchain calculations to HPC. Unlike traditional data centers that require 3 to 5 years to build, miners offer immediately available capacity.
This flexibility becomes crucial as demand for AI computing power explodes. Investors now track metrics in megawatts and GPU allocation rather than traditional Bitcoin hashrate.
The deal between IREN and Microsoft marks a historic turning point for the industry. The $9.7 billion contract for data center capacity in Texas positions the former miner as a major player in cloud computing. IREN has also secured an additional $5.8 billion from Dell for GPU deliveries. These partnerships place the company in a new category of technology players, far from its initial crypto identity.
IREN’s valuation reflects this transformation. Analysts are completely reassessing their financial model by integrating predictable revenue from cloud contracts, which are more stable than mining revenue subject to BTC volatility and increasing network difficulty. The market is responding favorably to this improved visibility on future cash flows.
Other technology giants are closely observing this movement. Amazon is actively exploring similar agreements with several mining operators, according to industry sources. The race for computing capacity is intensifying as AI models require exponential resources. Traditional data center projects cannot keep pace with the frantic rhythm of this demand. Converted miners offer a rapid and proven solution for massively deploying AI infrastructure.
American restrictions on exporting advanced chips to China create a favorable context for US-based miners. Washington strictly limits access to high-performance GPUs, considered strategic for technological sovereignty. This protectionist policy strengthens the position of American companies against international competition.
American miners benefit from priority access to the latest generations of Nvidia and AMD processors. This proximity to chip manufacturers constitutes a decisive competitive advantage in the AI race. Technology giants naturally favor domestic partners to secure their critical supplies and avoid regulatory risks.
Texas, Ohio, and North Carolina are emerging as major hubs for this transformation. These states offer abundant and inexpensive energy, essential for powering computation-intensive operations. Miners have already deployed capacities exceeding 2 gigawatts, ready to be redirected toward AI workloads. This established infrastructure represents billions in already amortized investments, giving converted miners a competitive cost structure compared to new entrants.
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Charles Ledoux is a Bitcoin and blockchain technology specialist. A graduate of the Crypto Academy, he has been a Bitcoin miner for over a year. He has written numerous masterclasses to educate newcomers to the industry and has authored over 2,000 articles on cryptocurrency. Now, he aims to share his passion for crypto through his articles for InvestX.
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