Keel Infrastructure is winding down mining in the US: betting on AI and energy
Keel Infrastructure, formerly known as Bitfarms, has fully decommissioned its mining capacity in the United States. This decision is part of a large-scale strategy to transform its sites into data centers for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence workloads. In effect, we are witnessing the end of the era of traditional bitcoin mining for this player.
In parallel with the infrastructure changes, Keel continues to actively reduce its cryptocurrency reserves. In the period from April 1 to August 7 alone, the company sold 1,085 BTC, raising $75 million. The organization retains 1,861 BTC on its balance sheet. Total liquidity stands at $819 million, of which $698 million is free cash.
Second-quarter financial results demonstrate the depth of the transformation. Revenue fell by half to $30.4 million, which management attributes to a decline in the average bitcoin price and the halt of mining at the Moses Lake site in Washington back in April. Operating loss reached $141 million, and net loss amounted to $65 million, compared with a profit of $5.5 million a year earlier. Administrative expenses rose from $19 million to $31 million due to the hiring of specialized professionals to manage AI projects.
Energy as the main asset
CEO Ben Gagnon clearly outlined the company's position: "Power capacity is the main constraint. Everything else is derived from it." According to him, all three priority sites are close to receiving the full package of permits, and negotiations are underway with several potential tenants for each. The company already has uncontracted capacity for 2027 in the zone of the largest operator, PJM.
However, no signed lease agreements were presented in the report. This indicates that the AI data center market is extremely competitive, and Keel is still in the stage of active negotiations rather than guaranteed revenue. Investors reacted immediately: the company's shares on Nasdaq fell by more than 12% on August 10.
Bitdeer: the flip side of the coin
Against this backdrop, Bitdeer is demonstrating impressive growth in both directions. The company increased its mining output nearly fivefold to 2,694 BTC, and average hash rate reached 69.5 EH/s. Revenue grew by 47% to $228.8 million, and adjusted EBITDA showed growth of 576% to $31.1 million. At the same time, net loss widened to $92.3 million due to rising electricity costs and depreciation.
Bitdeer is also actively converting its energy portfolio (nearly 3 GW) to AI needs. A recent 16-year contract for the Tydal data center in Norway provides for $4.7 billion in revenue and 121 MW of IT capacity for Nvidia GPUs. However, the market did not appreciate these efforts: Bitdeer shares fell 20% in the last trading session.
My analysis shows: the mining market has finally split. Some companies are sacrificing current profits for the sake of future AI contracts, while others are trying to balance. But the decline in shares of both Keel and Bitdeer amid good news suggests investor skepticism regarding the speed of monetizing these transitions. The era of simply "printing" money from electricity is over — miners will now have to prove their value as operators of high-tech infrastructure.