The stock prices of the large mining companies that support the Bitcoin network have once again outperformed Bitcoin itself, as companies increasingly move to a hybrid model centered around artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC).
These companies, once called “miners” in reference to the mining of traditional commodities such as gold, have long been vulnerable to wild fluctuations in Bitcoin's price. The sector benefited from the first wave of the AI boom in 2023, but stock prices fell the following year as profits plummeted and competition increased.
However, the situation will change completely in 2025. Despite the cryptocurrency market's slide in recent weeks, Bitcoin has risen 14% this year and is nearing its all-time high of $126,000 hit at the beginning of the month. The Trump administration's pro-cryptocurrency policies during its second term have revived investor interest in Bitcoin.
But the real winners this year were not BTC, but rather mining companies. The index tracking mining companies has risen more than 150% since the beginning of the year. Investors now view these companies as “technology infrastructure companies” rather than just mining companies, experts say.
“Investors are currently evaluating Bitcoin miners almost entirely on HPC and AI opportunities. Less than 10% of the topics we discuss are related to Bitcoin mining,” said John Todaro, an analyst at Needham & Company.
The most notable examples of this transformation include Cipher Mining and IREN. The stock prices of two Nasdaq-listed companies have risen 300% and 500%, respectively, this year. Earlier this year, Cipher signed a 10-year, approximately $3 billion collaboration agreement with Google-backed Fluidstack. Under the agreement, Fluidstack received $1.4 billion in lease guarantees in exchange for a 5.4% equity option. This agreement has been interpreted as one of the clearest indicators of the growing intertwining of crypto mining and AI computing.
Singapore-based BitDeer Technologies Group soared nearly 30% on Wednesday. The company plans to convert several mines into AI data centers, including its 570-megawatt Clarington facility in Ohio. Bitdeer said the transformation could lead to annual revenue of more than $2 billion by the end of 2026 in a best-case scenario.
“AI and HPC will not replace mining, but complement it. We will transform by selecting facilities whose profitability is sustainable over the long term,” said Jeff LaBerge, vice president of capital markets and strategy at Bitdeer.
This strategic shift by miners accelerated after the Bitcoin halving in 2024. The reward per block decreased from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, which, combined with increased network difficulty and reduced trading volume, significantly reduced profit margins.
Wolfie Zhao, an analyst at TheMinerMag, noted that many companies are now looking at more efficient use of existing energy capacity rather than increasing hashrate. “Companies like Riot Platforms, IREN, and Bitfarms have no plans to increase hash power in the near future. The focus has shifted from 'How much hash can I add?' to 'How efficiently can I use energy?'”
“Revenues per megawatt and EBITDA margins are much higher for AI and HPC compared to mining,” Needham analyst Todaro said. “Due to Bitcoin’s volatility and risk halving, capital markets now value AI-centric data centers much more highly than traditional miners.”
*This is not investment advice.
