Bitcoin mining exodus: Keel Infrastructure fully shuts down mining operations in the U.S. to focus on AI
The market is finally cementing a tectonic shift: Keel Infrastructure, formerly known as Bitfarms, has fully decommissioned all of its mining capacity in the United States. This is not merely the closure of facilities, but a strategic transformation — the sites are being prepared for repurposing into data centers for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence workloads. The relevant data was disclosed in the second-quarter report.
In parallel with halting mining, the company accelerated the liquidation of its bitcoin reserves. Between April 1 and August 7, it sold 1,085 BTC for approximately $75 million. Keel retains 1,861 BTC in its possession. Total liquidity is estimated at $819 million, of which $698 million is free cash and $121 million is digital assets on the balance sheet. To strengthen its position, the miner raised $458 million through the issuance of convertible bonds.
Financial results and the cost of the pivot
Quarterly revenue stood at $30.4 million, half of the figure from a year earlier. Management attributes the decline to a lower average price of the leading cryptocurrency and the shutdown of mining at the Moses Lake facility in Washington state back in April. Administrative expenses, meanwhile, jumped from $19 million to $31 million — the company is actively hiring specialized staff to manage new projects.
The operating loss reached $141 million (including $84 million in non-cash depreciation), whereas a year earlier it recorded an operating profit of $11 million. The net loss amounted to $65 million, compared to a $5.5 million loss in the second quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA turned negative at $24 million. The figures predictably reflect a transitional period: the company is deliberately sacrificing current profits for a future in a new industry.
A bet on energy and the absence of contracts
CEO Ben Gagnon articulates the strategy with utmost clarity: "Power capacity is the primary constraint. Everything else is derived from it." According to him, three priority sites are close to receiving their full permit packages, and negotiations are underway with several potential tenants for each. The company already holds uncontracted capacity for 2027 within the footprint of PJM, the largest system operator in the United States.
However, there is a significant caveat: the report does not list a single signed lease agreement. This suggests that investors are, in effect, buying into an idea and an energy portfolio rather than guaranteed cash flows. The market reacted immediately: on August 10, Keel shares on Nasdaq plunged more than 12%.
Among the quarter's operational successes, notable items include zoning approvals at the Panther Creek and Sharon sites, acceptance of the first Vertiv modules in Moses Lake, and the appointment of Ganesh Iyer as president. In Sherbrooke, Canada, an agreement was reached with Hydro-Sherbrooke for the conditional transfer of 96 MW of existing capacity.
Bitdeer: mining and AI in one package
Against this backdrop, Bitdeer demonstrates a different model — a symbiosis of two directions. The company nearly quintupled its mining output: 2,694 BTC versus 565 BTC a year earlier. Average hash rate reached 69.5 EH/s. Revenue grew 47% to $228.8 million, with mining contributing $168.4 million and the cloud AI service AI Cloud bringing in $14 million, up from $1.3 million the previous year.
However, there were also warning signs here. The net loss widened to $92.3 million, and gross profit turned into a loss of $8.5 million due to rising electricity costs and depreciation of new equipment. Bitdeer shares fell 20% in the latest session, despite positive revenue momentum.
The company is actively shifting its energy portfolio toward AI: it signed a 16-year agreement for the Tydal data center in Norway ($4.7 billion in revenue, 121 MW for Nvidia GPUs), and the Rockdale site (563 MW) in the United States will be repurposed from bitcoin mining to colocation.
My take on what is happening: we are witnessing not a capitulation of miners, but their evolution. Keel is making a radical bet on AI, completely abandoning mining in the United States, while Bitdeer is trying to strike a balance. The key risk for both companies is the lack of guaranteed long-term contracts with AI giants. Energy capacity is an asset, but without a tenant, it turns into costly ballast.