BlackRock plans to sell over $12 billion in bonds to finance a data center campus in El Paso, Texas. The project, announced this week, is expected to serve both AI infrastructure and crypto mining operations — two sectors that have driven surging demand for computing power and energy.
The bond sale
The bond offering is one of the largest ever tied to a single data center development. BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager with more than $10 trillion under management, is using its infrastructure arm to back the campus. The size of the sale — $12 billion — signals the scale of capital needed to build out next-generation computing facilities.
BlackRock hasn't disclosed the bond's maturity or coupon details yet. The sale is expected to draw interest from institutional investors looking for long-term, asset-backed exposure to the digital economy.
Why El Paso
The campus will sit in El Paso, a city on the Texas-Mexico border. Texas has become a magnet for crypto miners and data center operators thanks to its deregulated power grid and relatively cheap electricity. El Paso specifically offers available land and access to transmission lines — critical for facilities that can draw hundreds of megawatts.
The location also puts the campus close to Mexico's energy infrastructure, though BlackRock hasn't said whether cross-border power deals are part of the plan.
AI and crypto mining overlap
Data centers built for AI training and crypto mining share similar requirements: massive amounts of electricity, advanced cooling systems, and high-density server racks. The El Paso campus is designed to handle both workloads, reflecting a growing convergence in the industry.
Crypto miners have increasingly repurposed their facilities for AI clients, and some AI companies are building their own mining-adjacent infrastructure. BlackRock's bond sale is a bet that this trend will continue — and that the demand for compute power will keep growing.
BlackRock hasn't set a firm date for the bond offering. The company is likely waiting for favorable market conditions given the size of the deal. Construction on the El Paso campus is expected to begin once financing is secured.
The bond sale will be one to watch for anyone tracking how traditional finance is funding the next wave of digital infrastructure.
