June became a month of correction for several public Bitcoin miners. CleanSpark, BitFuFu, and Canaan simultaneously reported a decline in the production of the first cryptocurrency, despite mining difficulty dropping to 2026 lows. This paradox points to internal operational issues rather than market factors.
CleanSpark mined 614 BTC compared to 671 BTC in May. The main reason is a drop in the average operational hashrate from 46 EH/s to 43 EH/s. The company ended the month with 13,924 BTC on its balance sheet. BitFuFu showed a sharper decline: from 177 BTC to 125 BTC. Total computing power fell from 19.5 EH/s to 15 EH/s due to a reduction in leased capacity, although the firm continues to expand its own fleet, deploying 1,200 S21 XP miners in June and planning to connect another 2,000 in July. Canaan mined 64 BTC versus 90 BTC the previous month, attributing the decline to scheduled power grid maintenance at one of its sites. Meanwhile, its Texas joint venture recovered from May's wildfires, and the balance sheet grew by 49 BTC, reaching record levels of 1,915 BTC and 3,952 ETH.
The market reacted mixed: CleanSpark shares rose 5% (to $13), BitFuFu rose 7% (to $1.42), while Canaan fell 1.5% (to $0.2).
CleanSpark signs $6.6 billion contract: from mining to AI infrastructure
On July 14, CleanSpark signed a 20-year lease agreement for a data center campus in Sandersville, Georgia, with an unnamed investment-grade technology company. The contract is valued at $6.6 billion. The lessee will deploy 175 MW of infrastructure, with commissioning scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2027. The agreement includes two five-year renewal options, potentially bringing the total deal value to $11.6 billion.
CleanSpark CEO Matt Schultz stated that this agreement marks the company's transition from Bitcoin mining to a diversified digital infrastructure model, allowing it to commercialize energy assets. Simultaneously, the parties signed an exclusivity agreement for negotiations across CleanSpark's entire Texas portfolio—two sites totaling 718 acres with a 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.
Recall that CleanSpark began its pivot toward AI infrastructure as early as fall 2025, and competitors like MARA Holdings are also actively acquiring sites for AI and mining. This confirms a global trend: mining companies are increasingly becoming operators of energy-intensive data centers rather than just Bitcoin producers.
Expert opinion: The decline in production in June is a temporary phenomenon caused by operational disruptions, not fundamental issues. However, CleanSpark's strategic shift toward AI leasing looks far more promising than simply increasing hashrate. This signals to the market: miners that fail to diversify risk being left behind in the new era of digital infrastructure.