Three leading mining companies — CleanSpark, BitFuFu, and Canaan — recorded a decline in Bitcoin mining volumes in June, despite a record drop in mining difficulty to 2026 lows. This is a paradoxical situation: a decrease in network difficulty usually makes mining easier, but here we see the opposite effect due to internal operational issues.
CleanSpark mined 614 BTC compared to 671 BTC in May. The key factor was a drop in average operational hashrate from 46 EH/s to 43 EH/s. The company's balance sheet holds 13,924 BTC. BitFuFu showed an even sharper decline: 125 BTC versus 177 BTC the previous month. The reason was a reduction in leased capacity, causing total computing power to fall from 19.5 EH/s to 15 EH/s. Canaan mined 64 BTC, which is 29% less than May's figure of 90 BTC. The company attributes this to scheduled power grid maintenance at one of its sites, although its Texas joint venture recovered from May's wildfires. Canaan's balance sheet increased by 49 BTC, ending June with a record 1,915 BTC and 3,952 ETH.
The market reaction was mixed: CleanSpark shares rose 5% (to $13), BitFuFu gained 7% (to $1.42), while Canaan lost 1.5% (to $0.2). This indicates that investors assess the companies' prospects differently.
CleanSpark Bets on AI Infrastructure
On July 14, CleanSpark signed a 20-year lease contract for a data center campus in Sandersville, Georgia, with a capacity of 175 MW. The deal is valued at $6.6 billion, with options for a 10-year extension that could increase the total to $11.6 billion. The lessee is an unnamed investment-grade technology company. The facility is scheduled to come online in the fourth quarter of 2027.
CleanSpark CEO Matt Schultz described this agreement as a transition from Bitcoin mining to a diversified digital infrastructure model. The company also signed an exclusive negotiation agreement for its entire Texas portfolio, where two sites totaling 718 acres could provide up to 885 MW of capacity. The contract is expected to generate approximately $330 million in net operating income annually, with nearly 100% operating margins.
This continues CleanSpark's strategy, initiated in fall 2025, when the company announced the development of its data center business and the conversion of energy sites for AI workloads. Notably, MARA Holdings made a similar move by purchasing a site in Texas for $600 million.
My analysis: The decline in production at CleanSpark and BitFuFu represents temporary operational difficulties, but Canaan faces more systemic issues. CleanSpark, however, demonstrates maturity by pivoting to AI infrastructure. This could become a new standard for miners: diversifying into data centers reduces dependence on Bitcoin volatility and opens access to stable rental income. The market already values such companies higher, as evidenced by their rising stock prices.