Bitcoin Miners Emerge as Strategic AI Infrastructure Partners
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 a key bottleneck for new data center expansion, with interconnection timelines stretching up to seven years. Miners, having secured large renewable energy contracts years ago, now control over 14 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, providing AI companies 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 building new centers from scratch. 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 feature advanced cooling systems, they can be retrofitted for AI workloads more quickly and cheaply than new builds. Bernstein called miners “strategic enablers” of AI expansion, naming IREN as a top pick with an outperform rating and $75 price target. IREN shares rose 5.7% in early trading Friday, reaching about $67.50.
