Recent financial reports reveal that leading publicly listed cryptocurrency mining companies have been selling their Bitcoin holdings to fund operations, while simultaneously accelerating a shift from ASIC mining hardware toward GPU technology. At the same time, these firms are pouring resources into building artificial intelligence (AI) cloud infrastructure, committing to billion-dollar contracts. The trend has become more pronounced as revenues from Bitcoin mining have fallen, spurring a rapid surge of interest in AI business models across the industry.
MARA announces $1.5 billion energy acquisition
On April 30, US-based Bitcoin mining giant MARA Holdings announced its $1.5 billion acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power from FTAI Infrastructure. With this deal, MARA assumes control of a 505-megawatt natural gas plant and 1,600 acres of industrial-zoned land in Ohio. The firm plans to develop a large data center campus on the site. CEO Fred Thiel highlighted strong demand for data center infrastructure at the facility, adding that MARA is currently in negotiations with key potential tenants in anticipation of the contract’s completion.
Following the agreement, MARA initiated a voting process to alter the existing terms of Long Ridge’s $600 million in senior bonds. The company now holds 38,689 Bitcoin on its balance sheet, the largest among public mining firms.
IREN targets global AI infrastructure
IREN Limited reported third-quarter revenue of $144.8 million, marking a 22% drop compared to the previous period. The company set a target of $3.7 billion in annual recurring revenue by year-end. In a significant strategic move, IREN signed a five-year cloud contract valued at $3.4 billion with AI hardware leader NVIDIA. The deal will see 60 megawatts of next-generation Blackwell GPUs deployed at IREN’s Texas Childress data center and positions the two firms to collaborate in developing 5 gigawatts of data center capacity worldwide.
IREN co-founder and CEO Daniel Roberts emphasized that there is a global shortage in computational capacity, with both data center and GPU supply remaining tight.
Smaller miners pursue new AI-driven business models
Smaller mining outfits are also pivoting to AI by liquidating assets. Canada-based DMG Blockchain Solutions mined 21 BTC in April, down slightly from 23 BTC in March. DMG has now launched a new subsidiary called DMG Infrastructure to ready its existing data center for AI and high-performance computing tasks. CEO Sheldon Bennett stated that low wholesale electricity prices provided the company a cost advantage, especially during Bitcoin price slumps.
Meanwhile, Bitdeer reported that its Bitcoin holdings have been reduced to zero as it sold all 193.8 BTC mined in the previous period. Cango Inc. liquidated its 1,026 BTC reserve to pay off debts and has since reentered the market with a new AI-focused unit named EcoHash.
Industry data confirms shift from mining to AI
Industry-wide figures illustrate that profit margins from Bitcoin mining are shrinking steadily. In contrast, AI-powered infrastructure services are emerging as billion-dollar revenue streams, attracting intense interest from the world’s largest tech companies.
Projections show that IREN will reach a total of 1,210 megawatts in capacity by 2027, while MARA’s recent power plant deal secures it 505 megawatts. DMG is converting its entire facility for new use. The expanded capacity from these moves eclipses the assets these companies had originally built for crypto mining. Industry players expect infrastructure figures to climb even higher as more companies declare new AI ambitions.
