How do MARA, Core Scientific, and IREN transition from Bitcoin mining to compete in AI computing infrastructure?

By 2026, Bitcoin mining is undergoing the most fundamental identity reshaping since its inception.

On one side, Bitcoin prices have been hovering around $70,000 for a long time, while mining costs are edging toward $80,000—losses of nearly $20,000 per coin. On the other side, the explosive growth in AI compute demand is creating an entirely new industrial opportunity—data center hosting and computing power leasing, whose unit power revenue can reach 25 times that of traditional mining.

Between these two tracks, publicly listed miners have made a consistent choice: sell Bitcoin, buy power plants, and transform into AI computing infrastructure providers.

By the end of Q1 2026, publicly listed miners had collectively signed more than $70 billion in AI and HPC contracts. Some companies expect that by the end of 2026, up to 70% of their revenue will come from AI business—fundamentally changing the industry’s capital structure and risk profile.

Among them, the transformation paths of MARA Holdings, Core Scientific, and IREN are the most representative. Each also chose a distinctly different strategy—one buying power plants to build, one contracting with a major hosting provider, and one directly tying to NVIDIA. In this collective migration from “mining” to “computing power giants,” who is most likely to become the next beneficiary in the NVIDIA ecosystem?



## Three Financial Reports, One Direction

In May 2026, three Nasdaq-listed mining companies disclosed their latest quarterly earnings within nearly the same time window. Behind the data, a common signal is being conveyed: Bitcoin mining is stepping back from being the core business to becoming a sideline, while AI infrastructure is taking over companies’ revenue structure.

MARA Holdings disclosed its Q1 2026 performance on May 12: revenue of $174.6 million, down 18% year over year; net loss of $1.26 billion, expanding more than twofold from the $533 million loss in the same period last year. But what truly drew market attention was not the loss itself—losses were mainly caused by fair value changes stemming from the decline in the Bitcoin price—rather, the company sold about 20,880 BTC for approximately $1.5 billion during the same period, and announced the acquisition of the 505 MW gas power plant Long Ridge Energy & Power in Ohio for about $1.5 billion. This officially kicked off its strategic transformation into an AI data center infrastructure operator.

Core Scientific’s May 7 report revealed a net loss of $347.2 million, but hosting revenue surged from $8.6 million in the same period last year to $77.5 million. For the first time, AI hosting revenue surpassed Bitcoin mining and became the company’s largest revenue source. The company also sold 2,385 BTC, raising $208.3 million to expand its AI data centers.

IREN similarly released its financial results on May 7: quarterly revenue of $144.8 million, down 22% quarter over quarter, and net loss of $247.8 million. However, AI cloud service revenue rose 94.2% quarter over quarter from $17.3 million in the prior quarter to $33.6 million. The company also announced that it had signed a five-year, $3.4 billion AI cloud service contract with NVIDIA.

Three companies, three reports, one direction: sell Bitcoin, expand by taking on debt, and bet on AI.

## Key Milestones in Miner Transformation

In April 2024, Bitcoin completed its fourth halving. The block reward fell from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. At the same time, network hash difficulty continued climbing to a historic peak of 156 trillion, while average transaction fees dropped to a low of $0.58—squeezing miners’ income sources in three directions.

The timeline is as follows:

- H2 2024 to H1 2025: Core Scientific was the first to sign a series of 12-year hosting agreements with AI cloud computing company CoreWeave. The total contract value exceeded $10 billion. This cooperation became a benchmark case for miners’ transformation into AI data centers.
- H2 2025: IREN purchased 4,200 NVIDIA Blackwell B200 GPUs, with total investment of about $193 million. Its GPU fleet expanded to around 8,500 GPUs. The company officially launched AI cloud business expansion and then later became NVIDIA’s “preferred partner.”
- Q4 2025: The weighted average cash mining cost for listed miners rose to about $88,000. Over the same period, the Bitcoin price fluctuated in the $68,000 to $70,000 range. The industry officially entered an inverted state of “nearly $19,000 loss per coin mined.”
- Q1 2026: MARA sold 20,880 BTC in batches, raising about $1.5 billion in cash. At the same time, Core Scientific sold 2,385 BTC, while Bitdeer cleared its reserve Bitcoin—an industry-wide “selling coins to transform” wave was fully underway.
- Apr to May 2026: MARA announced the acquisition of the Long Ridge gas power plant. IREN announced the completion of $3 billion in convertible bond financing (including oversubscription) and finalized a $3.4 billion contract with NVIDIA. Hut 8 signed a 15-year AI data center leasing contract worth $9.8 billion.

## Breakdown of the Transformation Paths of the Three Miners

### The Economic Driving Force of Transformation

The fundamental reason miners shift at scale toward AI data centers lies in a set of concise economic figures: according to a CoinShares report, AI data centers can generate revenue per kilowatt-hour up to 25 times that of Bitcoin mining. The construction cost for AI infrastructure is about $8 million to $15 million per megawatt, far higher than the $700,000 to $1 million for mining infrastructure. However, AI provides higher structurally stable, more stable returns, and is usually locked in through multi-year contracts.

The logic of pricing in capital markets has also undergone a fundamental change: miners with AI business exposure are valued at about 12.3 times future revenue, while pure mining companies are valued at only 5.9 times—an implied premium of more than double.

### Path Comparison of the Three Companies

| Dimension | MARA Holdings | Core Scientific | IREN |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Transformation Strategy | Vertical integration: buy power plants, build data centers | Hosting services: provide infrastructure and electricity for AI companies | Independent operations: buy GPUs, operate AI cloud services |
| Core Transactions | Acquire a 505 MW gas power plant for $1.5 billion | Sign a 12-year hosting contract with CoreWeave worth over $10 billion | Sign a 5-year, $3.4 billion AI cloud contract with NVIDIA |
| Share of AI Revenue | Still primarily mining; AI revenue has not yet ramped up at scale | AI hosting revenue share is about 67%, already surpassing mining | AI cloud revenue share is about 23%, up 94% quarter over quarter |
| Financing Method | Sell $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin + take on $785 million in debt | Sell $208.3 million worth of BTC + issue $3.3 billion in senior secured notes | Issue $3 billion convertible bonds + possible $2.1 billion NVIDIA equity subscription |
| Timing Rhythm | Deals expected to complete in H2 2026, with AI deployment starting in 2027 | AI hosting already generating scaled revenue | Targeting $3.7 billion in ARR by end of 2026 |

### MARA: A $1.5 Billion Energy Bet

MARA’s transformation path chose the heaviest route—directly controlling generation assets. The company acquired Long Ridge Energy & Power in Ohio for about $1.5 billion, including a 505 MW gas power plant and more than 1,600 acres of land. It plans to build an AI data center campus scalable to above 1 GW. The asset is expected to contribute about $144 million EBITDA per year.

MARA also confirmed it would stop large-scale purchasing of ASIC miners, and announced layoffs of 15%, saving about $12 million in costs per year. The company clearly stated that up to 90% of its non-hosted mining capacity can be reconfigured for AI and IT workloads.

Worth noting is that after selling 20,880 BTC, MARA still holds 35,303 BTC. At the time’s market value of about $290 million?—it’s actually about $2.9 billion in the text; keeping the original numeric meaning: valued at about $290 million? (As stated: roughly $2.9 billion.) This makes it the fourth-largest corporate Bitcoin holder globally. This means the company has not completely abandoned its Bitcoin exposure. Instead, when the mining profitability model fails, it chooses to use its Bitcoin reserves as a source of “strategic financial resilience.”

### Core Scientific: The Earliest Mover

Among the three leading miners, Core Scientific’s AI transformation began earliest and has progressed the fastest.

The company signed a multi-stage, 12-year hosting agreement with AI cloud computing giant CoreWeave. The total contract value is over $10 billion and covers 590 MW of hosted capacity. Under the agreement, CoreWeave bears all the capital investment costs required to convert Core Scientific’s existing mining infrastructure into HPC-ready facilities. This means Core Scientific can transition into an AI infrastructure provider with relatively lower capital expenditure.

The latest financial results show that Core Scientific’s hosting revenue reached $77.5 million in Q1 2026, compared with only $8.6 million in the same period last year—an increase of over 800%. AI hosting revenue has officially surpassed Bitcoin mining, becoming the company’s number one revenue pillar.

Core Scientific currently operates 10 data centers, with total power capacity of about 1.9 GW, and plans to expand its Muskogee, Oklahoma campus to about 1.5 GW.

### IREN: A New Species Deeply Bound to NVIDIA

IREN’s transformation strategy sharply contrasts with MARA and Core Scientific. It is not doing hosting, not buying power plants—but rather buying GPUs itself, building clusters itself, and operating AI cloud services itself. This means heavier capital investment, but it also means higher value capture.

In August 2025, IREN bought 4,200 NVIDIA Blackwell B200 GPUs for about $193 million. As a result, its GPU fleet has grown to nearly double, to around 8,500 units. Since then, the company has also become NVIDIA’s “preferred partner,” gaining advantages in directly accessing NVIDIA chip supply channels.

In May 2026, IREN announced that it had signed a five-year, $3.4 billion AI cloud service contract with NVIDIA. NVIDIA will supply air-cooled Blackwell GPUs. The contract also includes NVIDIA’s right to purchase up to 30 million shares of IREN common stock at an exercise price of $70 per share. The potential equity investment size reaches $2.1 billion.

IREN’s performance guidance is highly ambitious: the company targets annual recurring revenue of $3.7 billion by end of 2026, with $3.1 billion already locked in through signed contracts. It also targets deploying 150,000 GPUs for the full year of 2026, with total capacity of 480 MW.

But currently, more than 90% of IREN’s revenue still comes from Bitcoin mining, and its AI cloud service revenue is only $33.6 million. That leaves a huge gap versus its $3.7 billion target, meaning there will be enormous execution pressure in the next two years.

## What the Market Is Debating

Amid the industry-wide shift of miners to AI data centers, three major viewpoints have formed.

First viewpoint: The transformation is a rational move, and miners have structural advantages.

The arguments supporting this view focus on time barriers in power infrastructure. In the United States, new data centers typically take 3 to 5 years from planning to grid connection, while miners have already completed power infrastructure deployment in advance—substations, transmission lines, and grid interconnection capacity requirements are all in place. Bernstein analysts estimate that miners’ grid interconnection capability can shorten data center deployment timelines by up to 75%. In the current environment where AI compute demand iterates on a quarterly basis, this speed advantage is a core competitive strength for miners’ transformation.

In addition, the profit margins promised for AI infrastructure exceed 85%, and are locked in by multi-year contracts—contrasting sharply with the high volatility of Bitcoin mining.

Second viewpoint: Massive financing pressure; near-term losses are the price of transformation.

Opponents are concerned about miners’ debt levels. IREN issued $3 billion in convertible bonds; Core Scientific issued $3.3 billion in senior secured notes; and while MARA acquired Long Ridge, it also assumed $785 million in debt. These companies are betting that AI revenue can ramp up quickly enough to cover debt costs. But because the construction cycle for AI data centers means large-scale revenue may only be realized in 2027 or even later.

MARA’s initial AI infrastructure deployment is expected in the first half of 2027, with full operations potentially delayed to mid-2028. Core Scientific still recorded a net loss of $347.2 million in the first quarter. IREN’s single-quarter net loss is as high as $247.8 million.

Third viewpoint: Miners selling coins and exiting is threatening Bitcoin network security.

This view touches on a deeper structural contradiction. Data shows that publicly listed miners have cumulatively reduced holdings of more than 15,000 BTC from peak levels. Bitcoin’s total network hash rate fell from an average of about 985 EH/s in Q4 2025 to 873 EH/s in Q1 2026, and multiple rounds of negative difficulty adjustments have occurred.

The miners that secure Bitcoin’s network are precisely those companies that sell Bitcoin and reallocate capital to AI data center construction. When mining is no longer profitable and AI becomes lucrative, capital naturally flows toward sectors with higher returns. But if enough miners make the same choice, the network’s budget for hash security will keep shrinking.

## Industry Impact Analysis: From Mining Companies to Digital Infrastructure Operators

Miners’ collective transformation is reshaping the industry across three dimensions.

First, the capital structure is changing fundamentally. Before the transformation, miners’ core assets on their balance sheets were Bitcoin; after the transformation, core assets become power plants, data centers, and long-term service contracts. This means the revenue source shifts from highly volatile crypto assets to relatively stable contract-based cash flows, and the risk-return characteristics of the capital structure are completely rewritten.

Second, valuation logic is switching. As mentioned earlier, AI business exposure is granting miners significant valuation premiums—miners with AI businesses are valued at about 12.3 times future revenue, while pure mining companies are valued at only 5.9 times. This means investors no longer price miners based on a “Bitcoin price multiple,” but based on a “contract revenue multiple for data center operators.” Some miners may be reclassified as data center or AI infrastructure stocks within the next 12 to 18 months.

Third, the competitive landscape in the industry is becoming more layered. Not all miners have the conditions to transform. Leading enterprises, backed by the scale of their power assets, financing capacity, and customer relationships, move into advantageous positions first. Meanwhile, smaller miners may be squeezed into the pure mining track, facing dual pressure: a continued deterioration of profitability models and insufficient transformation capacity. A round of consolidation and M&A is possible within the industry.

## Conclusion

The transformation stories of MARA, Core Scientific, and IREN essentially tell the same proposition: in a world where crypto assets are highly volatile, controlling physical infrastructure—electricity, land, cooling systems—may be a more durable moat than holding digital assets.

MARA chose the heaviest path. With $1.5 billion, it bought a power plant, aiming to turn “energy control strength” into a long-term competitive barrier. Core Scientific chose the lightest path, leveraging the hosting model to capture the AI giants’ compute overflow demand, exchanging existing infrastructure for long-term stable contract cash flows. IREN chose a path deeply tied to NVIDIA, using the most cutting-edge GPUs and the most aggressive revenue targets to define its new identity.

The three paths correspond to three different risk-reward profiles, and also to three different judgments about the future industry landscape of AI infrastructure. The only certainty is that miners’ identity labels are being rewritten as “compute power giants.” In this rewrite, whoever can fulfill commitments at the execution level will truly become the next batch of beneficiaries.