Riot Platforms has signed a $9.1 billion lease with Anthropic for 191 megawatts at its Rockdale, Texas campus, a 20-year deal that could stretch to $16.1 billion with extensions. The Bitcoin miner is selling its coin reserves to fund the AI buildout, and the market is rewarding the shift.
The lease and the numbers
The agreement covers 191 megawatts of capacity at Riot's Rockdale site, with the base contract worth $9.1 billion over two decades. If all extension options are exercised, the total value could reach $16.1 billion. CEO Jason Les said the company has now executed leases totaling 241 megawatts, representing roughly $9.8 billion of long-term contracted revenue with two AI companies.
That's a big number for a company that, until recently, was known mostly for mining Bitcoin. The leases give Riot a predictable revenue stream that doesn't depend on the price of BTC.
The Bitcoin drawdown
To pay for the AI infrastructure, Riot has been selling its hoard. Bitcoin holdings fell from 15,680 BTC to 11,380 BTC in the second quarter, a drawdown of 4,300 coins. The company sold monthly output and tapped treasury reserves to fund construction. Mining revenue still came in at $113.7 million for the quarter, but the leasing business is clearly the new focus.
That's a notable shift. Riot is essentially trading its Bitcoin stack for a long-term AI revenue stream.
Market reaction
Investors liked what they saw. On the day of the announcement, Riot stock closed up 4.33%. Other miners with AI ambitions followed: Cipher Mining gained 5.39%, TeraWulf rose 3.40%, and Hut 8 added 3.39%. Bitcoin itself slipped 0.49% and stayed stuck in the $62,000–$65,000 range.
Analysts are adjusting their models. H.C. Wainwright raised its Riot price target to $40 from $25, and Needham lifted its target to $30. Both cited the contracted megawatts rather than Bitcoin output as the reason.
Decoupling from Bitcoin
This isn't the first time AI news has moved miners independently of BTC. In July, TeraWulf, IREN, and Hut 8 all surged on AI leasing announcements while Bitcoin barely budged. The pattern is clear: the market is starting to value these companies on their data-center potential, not just their hash rate.
The next test is whether Riot can turn those contracted megawatts into actual cash flow. It's already selling Bitcoin to get there.
