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Cantor Fitzgerald doubles down on crypto stock
Cantor Fitzgerald doubles down on crypto stock
Anand Sinha
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 6:35 AM GMT+9 2 min read
In this article:
IREN
+2.88%
BTC-USD
+0.83%
Cantor Fitzgerald significantly expanded its stake in Bitcoin (BTC) mining and AI cloud firm IREN Ltd (Nasdaq: IREN).
In a Feb. 17 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the financial services firm reported purchasing 3,333,423 additional shares of IREN worth nearly $171.96 million based on average quarterly prices.
The move increased the firm’s quarter-end IREN holding by roughly $124.65 million, underscoring Wall Street’s growing interest in AI cloud and virtual asset plays.
Following the transaction, IREN now represents about 1.99% of Cantor Fitzgerald’s reportable assets under management (AUM).
The IREN stock was trading at $42.04 at press time. It has lost 40% of its value since mid-October last year.
However, if we look at the bigger picture, the stock has gained more than 220% over the past year.
Related: New IRS form may trigger inflated tax payments
Strategic shift toward AI infrastructure
IREN is a Bitcoin mining and AI infrastructure firm with data centers across the United States and Canada. It has increasingly pivoted from Bitcoin mining operations into AI cloud services.
The stock’s rapid ascent over the past year reflects the market’s faith in its transition from Bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure. The AI market continues to attract institutional capital amid booming demand for GPU-powered cloud services.
Analysts have noted IREN’s multi-year cloud contracts, robust expansion plans, and strategic partnerships as key drivers of long-term growth prospects.
More News:
Mixed signals from analysts
Despite the bullish trade by Cantor Fitzgerald, some market analysts caution that IREN’s reliance on large hyperscaler contracts, including an agreement with Microsoft, could expose the company to concentration risks if such deals falter.
IREN’s relatively small market capitalization of $13.6 billion also contrasts with peers in the AI cloud and crypto infrastructure space, pointing to a potentially higher risk/reward profile for investors.
Besides the IREN trade, Cantor Fitzgerald’s largest positions remain in:
As IREN pivots from Bitcoin mining to AI, Cantor Fitzgerald’s stake in the firm reflects Wall Street’s growing faith in the latter.
Related: What is Bitcoin mining? Explained
This story was originally published by TheStreet on Feb 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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