GPU giant: HIVE Digital signs $220 million contract, shifting focus from mining to AI
The digital asset market continues to surprise: mining company HIVE Digital Technologies, known for its focus on Bitcoin, is making a strategic pivot toward high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence. Its subsidiary, BUZZ HPC, has signed a three-year contract with Bell Canada and Cohere to provide cloud GPU services. The total value of the agreement is an impressive $220 million.
Under the contract, the company will deploy over 2,300 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell GPUs at the Bell AI Fabric facility located in British Columbia, Canada. The launch is scheduled for late 2026 to early 2027. This move is not just a deal but a clear signal to the market: traditional mining is giving way to more profitable directions.
For HIVE, this contract represents a significant financial leap. The company estimates an increase in annual recurring contract revenue of approximately $70 million, more than doubling the current $35 million. In effect, BUZZ HPC is transitioning from an experimental unit to a key driver of profitability.
Bell Canada and Cohere, in turn, gain access to state-of-the-art computing power for training and inference of large language models. The Bell AI Fabric platform, built on NVIDIA Blackwell, will become one of the most powerful clusters in the region.
My analysis: This deal is a vivid example of how companies previously tied to cryptocurrencies are finding applications for their energy and infrastructure assets in the new AI economy. HIVE Digital is not just diversifying—it is redefining its business model, becoming a provider of computing power for corporate giants. If such contracts become a trend, we will see miners massively retrofitting their data centers for HPC, which could significantly alter the balance in the GPU and cloud computing market.