Miners break into AI: Hut 8 signs $9.8 billion contract, IREN expands cloud capacity
The digital asset market is undergoing a tectonic shift. Bitcoin miners, who for decades focused exclusively on cryptocurrency mining, are now becoming key players in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Last week, Hut 8 signed a 15-year lease agreement for the second phase of its Beacon Point AI campus in Texas. The deal is worth $9.8 billion. This is not just a number; it is a signal of a complete restructuring of the business model for an entire industry.
The agreement was made with the same high-grade tenant that occupied the first phase of the facility. The counterparty's name is not disclosed, but its investment rating speaks volumes: this is not a startup, but an institutional giant ready to pay for computing resources on Nvidia architecture. Hut 8 will build an additional 352 MW of capacity, increasing the tenant's total contracted capacity at the site to 704 MW. Thus, the 1 GW campus is fully commercialized. The base value of all contracts at Beacon Point has reached $19.6 billion, and including extension options, it could soar to $50.2 billion.
Across Hut 8's entire AI data center portfolio, 949 MW is currently contracted, with a total base value of agreements amounting to $26.6 billion. The average annual net operating income is over $1.75 billion. The market reaction was immediate: Hut 8's shares jumped 10% to $104.51. The wave of growth also swept over other miners: Cipher Mining's shares rose by 15.4%, TeraWulf by 5.4%, and the CoinShares Bitcoin Miners ETF gained 10.6%.
IREN: Cloud AI Services Worth $2.8 Billion
In parallel, another major player, IREN, announced new contracts for cloud AI services totaling $2.8 billion. Against the backdrop of these deals, the firm raised its annual revenue forecast for the AI Cloud division to over $4 billion by the end of 2026, with 85% of that amount already secured by signed agreements.
Among IREN's clients are giants such as Microsoft, Nvidia, Perplexity, Figure AI, and Together AI. The company described another customer as a "leading AI developer" without revealing its name. Importantly, the new contracts include prepayments covering approximately 45% of the capital expenditures for the corresponding GPUs. This drastically reduces IREN's need for additional financing and demonstrates a high level of client trust. The weighted average term of the agreements is about four years, and the company held approximately $7.6 billion in cash at the end of June.
"Our vertically integrated AI Cloud platform is scaling at a rapid pace. Over the past 12 months, we have grown from approximately 3 MW of proprietary AI Cloud capacity to 480 MW being delivered this year, with a target of 1.2 GW by 2027," said Daniel Roberts, co-founder and co-CEO of IREN. Following the announcement, IREN's shares surged by 18.7%.
Recall that in July, mining company MARA Holdings acquired a site in Texas for $600 million, and TeraWulf announced plans to raise $3.5 billion for a data center for Anthropic.
My analysis: We are witnessing not just diversification, but a true evolution of the mining industry. Companies once considered "carbon monsters" are now becoming the backbone of AI infrastructure. This makes sense: they have access to cheap energy, experience managing massive computing power, and, critically, ready-made sites with grid connections. Investors have duly appreciated this, and I predict that over the next 12-18 months, we will see even more such deals. Miners that fail to adapt risk being left behind by history.