A tightening U.S. power grid is fostering closer collaboration between Bitcoin (BTC) miners and AI developers, according to Bernstein.
High demand for AI and digital workloads has made grid access one of the biggest bottlenecks for new data center growth, with interconnection timelines stretching up to seven years. Miners, having secured renewable energy contracts years ago, now control over 14 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, offering AI providers a faster, lower-cost path to scale, analysts led by Gautam Chhugani said.
Mining sites operated by IREN (IREN) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) can reduce deployment times by up to 75% compared with greenfield projects. The surge in high-performance computing demand positions miners to expand into AI and data center operations.
Because mining facilities already run at high power densities and have advanced cooling systems, they can be retrofitted for AI workloads faster and cheaper than building new centers. Bernstein described miners as “strategic enablers” of AI expansion and named IREN its top pick, with an outperform rating and $75 price target. IREN shares rose 5.7% in early trading Friday to roughly $67.50.
