June turned out to be a challenging month for public mining companies. CleanSpark, BitFuFu, and Canaan published operational reports showing a decline in their production of the first cryptocurrency, despite a notable drop in network difficulty to 2026 lows. This paradoxical phenomenon deserves a detailed analysis.
CleanSpark mined 614 BTC compared to 671 BTC in May. The main reason was a drop in the average operational hashrate from 46 EH/s to 43 EH/s. Despite the decline, the company maintains an impressive reserve of 13,924 BTC on its balance sheet. BitFuFu showed an even sharper decline: from 177 BTC to 125 BTC. The total computing power of its equipment fell from 19.5 EH/s to 15 EH/s due to a reduction in leased capacity. At the same time, the company is actively expanding its own fleet: 1,200 additional S21 XP miners were deployed in June, and another 2,000 devices are planned to be connected in July. Canaan mined 64 BTC compared to 90 BTC a month earlier, attributing the decline to planned power grid maintenance at one of its sites. However, their Texas joint venture recovered from May disruptions caused by wildfires, allowing them to add 49 BTC to their balance sheet and end the month with record holdings of 1,915 BTC and 3,952 ETH.
Market Reaction: Investor Differentiation
The stock market reaction was mixed. CleanSpark shares rose to $13 (+5%), BitFuFu to $1.42 (+7%), while Canaan shares fell to $0.2 (-1.5%). Investors are clearly assessing the companies' long-term strategies differently, favoring those actively diversifying and expanding their own capacities.
CleanSpark's Strategic Shift: From Mining to AI Infrastructure
The key event of the month was CleanSpark signing a 20-year lease agreement on July 14 for a data center campus in Sandersville, Georgia, with an unnamed investment-grade technology company. The contract is valued at $6.6 billion. The tenant will deploy 175 MW of infrastructure, with commissioning scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2027. The agreement includes two five-year renewal options, which could increase the total deal value to $11.6 billion.
CleanSpark CEO Matt Schultz emphasized that this contract marks the company's transition from pure Bitcoin mining to a diversified digital infrastructure model. Concurrently, the parties signed an exclusivity agreement for negotiations covering CleanSpark's entire Texas portfolio, which includes two sites totaling 718 acres with potential capacity of up to 885 MW. The company expects the contract to generate approximately $330 million in net operating income annually with nearly 100% operating margins.
My professional opinion: The trend toward diversification into AI and cloud computing is becoming dominant for major miners. CleanSpark is demonstrating the most aggressive strategy, transforming energy assets into a high-margin business. However, investors should closely monitor how successfully the company can balance traditional mining with new directions, especially amid volatility in both the cryptocurrency and stock markets. MARA Holdings, I recall, is also moving in this direction, having acquired a site in Texas for $600 million.