Bitcoin mining stocks rose 3-7% on Thursday even as the broader crypto market slipped. Hut 8, CleanSpark, and MARA all posted gains, with Hut 8 and IREN seeing particular strength after announcing new AI-related deals. The moves underscore a growing shift: miners are increasingly turning to high-performance computing and AI cloud services to offset the challenges of Bitcoin mining.
Hut 8 Doubles Down on Beacon Point
Hut 8 signed a second 15-year lease for 352 MW of IT capacity at its Beacon Point campus, doubling the site's tenant to 704 MW. That fully commercializes the campus against its 1,000 MW utility capacity. The company's stock sustained its rally through Thursday morning in New York, building on earlier gains.
IREN's $2.8 Billion AI Bet
IREN Limited signed $2.8 billion in new AI cloud contracts, sending its stock higher on Thursday. The deal adds to a growing pile of AI-related revenue for miners. Last year, top miners Terawulf, IREN, and Cipher Mining signed multi-year HPC contracts with Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Microsoft.
Why Miners Are Pivoting
Bitcoin mining is getting harder, and demand for AI compute is surging. Both industries need huge amounts of energy and data centers, but AI data centers require more expertise. That's pushing miners to repurpose their infrastructure and strike deals with tech giants. The pivot is already showing up in stock prices: Hut 8 and IREN jumped Thursday morning, while CleanSpark and MARA also gained 3-7%.
Market Context
Bitcoin was down about 2% on Thursday, trading at $64,760, as a broader market sell-off weighed on crypto. But mining stocks bucked the trend, with investors betting on the AI pivot. Hut 8's Beacon Point campus is now fully leased, and IREN's AI contracts are set to ramp up over the next year. For investors, the next milestone will be whether these deals translate into sustained earnings growth.
