On July 20, 2026, Hut 8 signed a 15-year lease agreement for the second phase of its AI campus Beacon Point in Texas, valued at $9.8 billion. This is not just a deal—it is a signal that the era of "pure" mining is finally giving way to a hybrid high-performance computing model.
The contract is with the same anonymous tenant as the first phase. Hut 8 only mentions its high investment rating. Under the agreement, the company will build an additional 352 MW of computing capacity based on Nvidia architecture. As a result, this client's total contracted capacity at the site will reach 704 MW.
The deal fully commercializes the 1 GW Beacon Point campus. The baseline value of all contracts for the project now stands at $19.6 billion. Including extension options, this figure could soar to $50.2 billion. Across Hut 8's entire AI data center portfolio, 949 MW are contracted with a total baseline value of $26.6 billion. The average annual net operating income exceeds $1.75 billion.
The market reacted instantly: Hut 8 shares jumped 10% to $104.51. The wave of growth also swept over other miners actively developing AI operations: Cipher Mining rose 15.4%, TeraWulf gained 5.4%. The CoinShares Bitcoin Miners ETF index fund increased by 10.6%.
IREN: New $2.8 Billion and Ambitions for $4 Billion
Meanwhile, another major player—IREN—announced new contracts for cloud AI services worth $2.8 billion. Against this backdrop, the company raised its annual AI Cloud revenue forecast to over $4 billion by the end of 2026. About 85% of this amount is already secured by signed agreements.
IREN's clients include Microsoft, Nvidia, Perplexity, Figure AI, Together AI, Fluidstack, Fireworks AI, Fal AI, and Hume AI. Another customer—a "leading AI developer"—remains unnamed. The contract terms include prepayments covering about 45% of GPU capital expenditures, significantly reducing IREN's need for external financing. The weighted average term of the agreements is approximately four years. As of June 30, the company held about $7.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
IREN co-founder and co-CEO Daniel Roberts noted that over the past 12 months, the AI Cloud platform has grown from 3 MW to 480 MW, with a target of 1.2 GW by 2027. Following the announcement, IREN shares surged 18.7%.
My comment: We are witnessing a tectonic shift. Miners are no longer just "bitcoin extractors"—they are transforming into key infrastructure operators for AI. They have cheap electricity, scalable sites, and experience managing massive computing power. This is an ideal symbiosis, and Hut 8's $19.6 billion is just the beginning. Investors should closely watch this trend: those who have managed to pivot are already seeing growth multipliers incomparable to classic mining.