Hut 8 and IREN each signed multi-billion-dollar contracts this week to build and operate AI-focused data centers, sending their shares sharply higher and reinforcing the broader shift among Bitcoin miners toward high-performance computing. The deals, announced separately over the past few days, are the largest yet to come from a growing wave of miners retrofitting or repurposing their facilities for artificial intelligence workloads.
The contracts
Hut 8 disclosed its agreement on Monday, saying it will deliver dedicated AI data center capacity to an unnamed hyperscaler. The contract is valued at north of $2 billion over its term. IREN, which changed its name from Iris Energy earlier this year, followed on Tuesday with a deal of similar size tied to a separate tech partner. Both companies said the projects will leverage existing power infrastructure and land holdings originally secured for Bitcoin mining.
Why miners are pivoting
The shift makes sense on paper. Bitcoin mining margins have been squeezed by the April 2024 halving, rising energy costs, and a persistently low hashprice. AI data centers, by contrast, command long-term contracts with predictable revenue and higher margins. The sector has been watching for months whether miners could actually close these kinds of deals — and now they have two concrete examples. Hut 8 and IREN are not the only ones; Riot Platforms and Core Scientific have also signaled similar moves, but the dollar figures here are the biggest so far.
Market reaction
Both stocks jumped on the news. Hut 8 gained 12% on Monday and another 6% on Tuesday. IREN, which had already been climbing this month, added 15% across the two sessions. The broader crypto mining equity index also rose, as investors bet other miners will follow. The rally wasn't just about the contracts themselves — it was a signal that the pivot from pure Bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure is becoming a real, investable theme.
Both companies have said they expect to break ground on the new facilities in the fourth quarter of 2026, with initial capacity coming online in early 2027. The next question is whether smaller miners can replicate the model. Hut 8 and IREN had the advantage of deep power reservations and existing data center expertise. For others, landing a hyperscaler contract may prove harder — but the door is now open.
