Cryptocurrency Miners Diversify to AI and HPC Services Amid Rising Energy Costs

Cryptocurrency miners are shifting towards AI and HPC services due to rising energy costs and decreasing profitability. Companies like Core Scientific, Riot, and MARA Holdings are acquiring stakes in AI infrastructure providers. TeraWulf has partnered with Fluidstack to offer high-performance computing clusters. As miners transition to AI services, the industry watches to see if they can sustain profitability. Companies like CoreWeave have successfully transformed, doubling their revenue and achieving a valuation of $48 billion.

Cryptocurrency miners are shifting their focus towards artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) services, driven by rising energy costs and decreasing profitability in traditional mining. This strategic pivot is evident in acquisitions and partnerships among major players such as Core Scientific, Riot, and MARA Holdings. These companies are investing in AI infrastructure providers to secure a more sustainable and profitable future.

MARA Holdings, for instance, has acquired a 64% stake in Exaion, a subsidiary of French energy company EDF. This move positions MARA to leverage its existing infrastructure and operational experience while expanding into the $169 billion trusted cloud infrastructure market [1]. The acquisition aligns with industry trends as miners diversify into HPC/AI, leveraging existing infrastructure for sovereign cloud services. Analysts cite the growing demand for compute power from AI applications and the looming bitcoin halving events in 2028 and 2032 as drivers for this strategic shift [1].

Similarly, TeraWulf has partnered with Fluidstack to offer high-performance computing clusters. Google's 8% stake in TeraWulf via a $3.7 billion colocation deal validates AI-powered Bitcoin mining as a strategic infrastructure play [2]. TeraWulf's Lake Mariner data center offers zero-carbon compute power, positioning it as a critical node in the global AI supply chain. This partnership exemplifies the broader industry trend of repurposing energy-dense data centers to support AI workloads, generating dual revenue streams with higher margins than crypto alone [2].

CoreWeave, acquired by Core Scientific, successfully transformed its operations. It doubled its revenue and achieved a valuation of $48 billion by investing in Nvidia H100 GPUs and securing multi-year AI contracts [2]. This transformation highlights the economic benefits of integrating AI into mining operations, with AI workloads generating higher margins per megawatt compared to Bitcoin mining.

The convergence of AI and Bitcoin mining is creating a unique value proposition for institutional investors. Miners with low-cost energy access and flexible infrastructure are now positioned to offer "virgin" Bitcoin—mined at lower costs—to institutional clients while simultaneously monetizing their compute capacity for AI. This dual utility of infrastructure is particularly attractive in a post-halving environment, where Bitcoin's energy efficiency (cost per BTC) remains a key competitive advantage [2].

However, investors must remain cautious. Key risks include capital expenditures for retrofitting mining infrastructure, client stability demands, regulatory uncertainty, and competition from established cloud providers. Despite these challenges, the strategic convergence of AI and crypto presents a compelling opportunity for long-term institutional investors [2].

References:
[1] Bitcoin Miner MARA Steps Into HPC With Majority Stake in EDF Subsidiary: H.C. Wainwright (https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/08/12/bitcoin-miner-mara-steps-into-hpc-with-majority-stake-in-edf-subsidiary-h-c-wainwright)
[2] Google's 8% stake in TeraWulf via a $3.7B colocation deal validates AI-powered Bitcoin mining as a strategic infrastructure play. (https://www.ainvest.com/news/google-8-stake-terawulf-emergence-ai-powered-bitcoin-mining-strategic-convergence-reshaping-institutional-investment-2508/)