Bitcoin miners start funding pivot to AI with debt while selling BTC to stay liquid

Bitcoin miners are experiencing a simultaneous fracturing across four fronts: severely compressed margins, an accelerating pivot toward Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure, increasing debt loads, and a breakdown in treasury holding discipline. With cash costs around $79,995 per BTC and hash prices falling significantly, miners are acting like commodity producers, selling Bitcoin from their treasuries when the price is already weak. Public miners collectively hold substantial BTC reserves, which they are now monetizing, with companies like Riot Platforms and Core Scientific selling significant amounts to fund operations or land purchases. This shift is driven by the AI pivot, where listed miners expect up to 70% of revenue from AI by late 2026, evidenced by major deals from Core Scientific, Hut 8, and IREN. This bifurcation is redefining miner stocks, creating a premium for AI/HPC-linked names over pure-play miners, as equity investors now factor in exposure to hyperscaler demand, financing costs, and lease execution. Companies with massive debt loads, like IREN and TeraWulf, face refinancing stress, meaning the sector is splitting into forced commodity sellers, debt-funded AI landlords, and a smaller group of efficient pure-play operators.

(Source：CryptoSlate)