Bitcoin Miners Cut BTC Holdings to Fund AI Infrastructure Investments

Bitcoin miners previously rode the high-performance computing and AI boom, boosting their valuations by touting a shift into AI infrastructure. But as AI stocks have cooled recently, the high cost of the hardware needed for such transitions has come under scrutiny. Investment firm VanEck estimates that miners face a funding gap of nearly $50 billion. Investors are consequently taking a harder look at corporate governance, fearing that equity raises could dilute their holdings and trigger major pullbacks in stocks tied to the transition.

In early July 2026, the AI Infrastructure Growth Index tumbled about 16%. Around that time, TeraWulf CEO Paul Prager sold about 1.59 million shares before the company signed a 20-year lease with Anthropic, while Core Scientific’s chief legal officer also reported selling 140,000 shares in early July. The senior executives’ share sales near stock-price highs have fueled intense market concerns about corporate governance and insider trading.

AI training and inference are driving a surge in data-center electricity demand, but building new substations and securing grid connections often takes years. Bitcoin miners already control large-scale power contracts, land, substations and fiber connectivity, allowing them to take on AI and high-performance computing workloads faster than projects built from scratch. Success still depends on cooling systems, building retrofits and long-term customers.

A June 30 report said mining sites' grid connections had evolved from a cost of Bitcoin production into an AI asset. On February 26, 2025, Core Scientific expanded its CoreWeave contract to 590 MW, with estimated revenue of $10.2 billion over 12 years. On January 16, 2026, Riot Platforms signed a 10-year, $311 million lease with AMD, beginning with 25 MW and offering expansion to as much as 200 MW.

Bitcoin completed its fourth halving on April 20, 2024, cutting the block reward from 6.25 to 3.125 Bitcoin. Combined with high energy and equipment costs, the reduction has continued to squeeze mining margins. Large miners are therefore converting their existing power capacity, facilities and cooling systems into AI and high-performance computing data centers in pursuit of more stable, long-term revenue.

Shares of miners making major bets on AI have recently far outperformed Bitcoin, but valuations have begun to diverge based on power capacity, financing capabilities and progress in delivering data centers. Nvidia’s plan to issue $20 billion in bonds to fund its AI expansion underscores strong demand for computing infrastructure. It also highlights the substantial capital spending and execution risks miners still face in making the transition.

Institutional expansion is moving crypto assets beyond a trading theme and into corporate treasuries and computing infrastructure. Twenty One Capital, backed by Tether, Bitfinex, Cantor Fitzgerald and SoftBank, holds more than 42,000 Bitcoin. Bernstein said miners can repurpose existing power supplies and data centers for AI, adding a source of revenue following the halving.

On May 19, 2026, Tether acquired SoftBank’s approximately 26% stake in Twenty One Capital for an undisclosed amount. The same day, Polymarket and Nasdaq Private Market launched a prediction market for private companies. A May 18 report from CoinShares showed that digital asset funds recorded $1.07 billion in net outflows in the previous week, ending a six-week streak of inflows.

Bitcoin undergoes a halving roughly every four years. In April 2024, the block reward fell from 6.25 bitcoin to 3.125 bitcoin, while CoinGecko estimated the cryptocurrency’s price at about $63,000 at the time. The reward is expected to fall again to 1.5625 bitcoin in April 2028. With energy costs and competition for computing power rising, miners need revenue from AI, high-performance computing and diversified power sources to reduce their reliance on mining alone.

From March 4 to March 25, 2026, MARA Holdings sold 15,133 bitcoin worth about $1.1 billion to repurchase $1 billion of convertible debt, a move expected to reduce its debt by about 30%. Bitdeer’s bitcoin holdings had fallen to zero as of February 20. Cango, meanwhile, plans facilities that can switch between AI and mining, while miners that have secured HPC contracts now command revenue multiples more than twice those of pure-play miners.

Bitcoin mining relies on miners deploying computing equipment to secure the network with hashrate and compete for block rewards. As energy, equipment and financing costs have risen and mining revenue has come under pressure, large U.S. miners have begun redirecting capital and power resources toward AI data centers. The shift could reduce hashrate concentration and make the Bitcoin network more decentralized.

Bitcoin's network hashrate fell about 4% from the previous period in the first quarter of 2026, ending five years of growth and marking its first first-quarter decline since 2020. With mining economics deteriorating, several miners are adjusting capital spending and converting existing sites to meet demand for AI infrastructure. The reports did not identify individual companies or disclose investment amounts.