Mining giant HIVE signs $220 million cloud GPU contract: a strategic shift in the AI era
A major player in Bitcoin mining, HIVE Digital Technologies, is making a significant strategic maneuver. Its subsidiary, BUZZ HPC, has signed a three-year contract to provide cloud GPU services worth approximately $220 million. The partners in the deal are telecom giant Bell Canada and Canadian AI company Cohere.
Under the agreement, HIVE will deploy 2,304 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell GPUs on Bell AI Fabric infrastructure located in British Columbia. The launch of these capacities is scheduled for late 2026 to early 2027. This is not just equipment leasing, but a full-fledged cloud solution for artificial intelligence tasks.
Financial Impact: From Mining to High-Yield Contracts
HIVE estimates that this contract will increase annual recurring revenue by approximately $70 million. For comparison, the company's current contract base is about $35 million per year. Thus, the new deal nearly triples its cloud revenue, demonstrating successful business diversification.
This move confirms a trend: mining companies with access to cheap energy and capacity are actively pivoting to the high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence markets. GPU clusters, previously used only for cryptocurrency mining, are now becoming key assets in the era of the AI revolution.
My analysis: The contract with Bell Canada and Cohere is not just a deal, but a bid for leadership in a new segment. HIVE proves that mining infrastructure can be effectively repurposed for cloud computing. If the launch goes according to schedule, we will see a sharp increase in interest in such hybrid models from other miners. However, the key risk is delays in GPU Blackwell deliveries, which could push the launch to 2027.