Shares of major Bitcoin mining companies are once again outpacing the cryptocurrency itself, as more firms shift toward hybrid business models centered on artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC).
Originally called “miners” for their resemblance to gold prospectors generating Bitcoin, these companies have long been at the mercy of the token’s notorious price swings. The sector briefly benefited during the initial phase of the AI boom two years ago, only to suffer a sharp correction when mining profitability declined and competition intensified.
Despite recent turbulence in crypto markets, Bitcoin remains up roughly 14% in 2025 and is hovering near its record high of almost $126,000 set earlier this month. The rally has been fueled in part by renewed investor enthusiasm following the Trump administration’s pro-crypto stance.
Yet, this year’s standout performers aren’t Bitcoin holders—they’re the miners. A fund tracking publicly traded mining companies has surged more than 150% year-to-date. Unlike previous bull cycles, when miners merely mirrored Bitcoin’s price action, these firms are now being valued for what they are becoming: digital infrastructure providers powering the AI revolution.
“Investors are almost exclusively valuing Bitcoin miners for their HPC and AI potential,” said John Todaro, analyst at Needham & Co. “Less than 10% of our conversations about miners are actually focused on Bitcoin itself.”
Two companies leading the shift are Cipher Mining Inc. and IREN Ltd. Shares in both Nasdaq-listed firms have skyrocketed—around 300% and 500%, respectively—this year as they pivot from pure Bitcoin mining to AI-focused infrastructure.
Earlier in 2025, Cipher inked a 10-year, approximately $3 billion colocation deal with Fluidstack, a company backed in part by Google. The agreement includes $1.4 billion in guaranteed lease obligations in exchange for warrants representing a 5.4% stake—one of the clearest signals yet that the line between crypto mining and AI computing is disappearing.
IREN, meanwhile, closed a $1 billion convertible notes offering this week. U.S.-based TeraWulf Inc. also announced plans to issue $3.2 billion in senior secured notes to expand its Lake Mariner data center in Barker, New York.
In Asia, Bitdeer Technologies Group, based in Singapore, rallied nearly 30% on Wednesday after unveiling plans to convert several of its major mining sites—including its 570-megawatt Clarington, Ohio facility—into AI data centers. The company said full conversion could generate more than $2 billion in annualized revenue by the end of 2026.
“For Bitdeer, AI and HPC are complements to mining, not replacements,” said Jeff LaBerge, vice president of capital markets and strategy at Bitdeer. “We’ll continue to lead with efficiency in self-mining while selectively converting qualified sites where long-term AI returns are sustainable.”
The shift toward AI and HPC follows last year’s Bitcoin halving, which reduced miner rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. Combined with higher network difficulty and slower transaction volumes, profit margins have tightened dramatically—leaving even record Bitcoin prices unable to offset rising operational costs.
According to Wolfie Zhao, an analyst at TheMinerMag, a move into AI-HPC typically means companies will scale back Bitcoin hashrate expansion, as part of their power capacity is redirected to AI workloads. He noted that Riot Platforms Inc., IREN, and Bitfarms have all indicated they do not plan to increase hashrate in the near term.
“The focus is shifting from ‘how much hashrate can we add’ to ‘how efficiently can we use our energy footprint,’” Zhao said. “With Bitcoin’s hashprice at record lows, this transition was inevitable. Mining and computing now share the same energy economy.”
Needham’s Todaro added that the financial incentives are clear:
“Revenue per megawatt and EBITDA margins are significantly higher for HPC and AI colocation than for mining. Given Bitcoin’s volatility and halving risks, capital markets are rewarding AI-focused data centers with far higher valuations than traditional miners.”
