Bitcoin Miners’ $90B Power Play: AI Boom Creates New Valuation Story

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Google, Blackstone AI Push Puts <a href="https://bbg-news.com/btc-usd/">Bitcoin</a> Miners in $90B Power Play

Key Highlights

  • Bernstein says Bitcoin miners control over 27GW of planned power capacity.
  • AI-linked mining deals now cover about 3.7GW and more than $90 billion in contract value.
  • Bernstein rates IREN, Riot, CleanSpark, and Core Scientific as Outperform.

Bitcoin mining companies are surprisingly becoming key players in building the infrastructure needed for artificial intelligence. Investors are starting to see these companies as valuable not for the Bitcoin they create, but for the significant amount of electricity they have access to.

I’ve been following the increasing investment in AI infrastructure closely, and the recent announcement from Google and Blackstone really highlights this trend. They’re launching a new venture with a $5 billion initial investment to offer Google’s powerful TPUs as a service. What’s particularly interesting is their plan to build out a significant amount of data center capacity – 500 megawatts – by 2027. Reports suggest this could ultimately attract a total of $25 billion in investment, indicating a strong belief in the demand for this type of AI compute power.

As I see it, this deal really highlights a key point about AI infrastructure. We’ve been focused on things like chips and funding, but increasingly, the biggest limitation isn’t those things – it’s actually getting enough power to run everything. Reliable, grid-connected power is becoming the real bottleneck.

A recent report from the investment bank Bernstein reveals that Bitcoin miners are planning to use over 27 gigawatts of power across the U.S. This significant power capacity gives them a key advantage as companies like data center operators, chip manufacturers, and AI cloud providers all compete for locations with the infrastructure to handle demanding computing needs.

Bitcoin mining companies have already committed over $90 billion to AI infrastructure, which will support around 3.7 gigawatts of power. According to The Block, Bernstein analysts recently gave positive “Outperform” ratings to IREN, Riot Platforms, CleanSpark, and Core Scientific, and maintained a “Market Perform” rating for MARA Holdings.

Bernstein analysts have set price targets of $100 for IREN, $25 for Riot Platforms, $24 for both CleanSpark and Core Scientific, and $23 for MARA. They rate MARA as ‘Market Perform’, suggesting a neutral outlook.

AI companies require a lot of electricity quickly, and cryptocurrency miners often have access to the power infrastructure that others are struggling to obtain. In many parts of the U.S., it can take years to build a large-scale data center due to issues like connecting to the power grid, obtaining permits, finding suitable land, and limitations with existing power stations.

This has led many cryptocurrency miners to shift their focus and now offer services in high-performance computing and infrastructure for artificial intelligence.

IREN is gaining significant attention in the industry. The company is involved in large-scale projects to build out AI infrastructure, and analysts at Bernstein believe it can successfully profit from its energy resources beyond just powering Bitcoin mining, setting a price target of $100 for its stock.

Riot Platforms is expanding its involvement in providing space for artificial intelligence operations. Meanwhile, CleanSpark and Core Scientific are expected to benefit from limited power availability. Core Scientific is quickly becoming a key player in the shift from cryptocurrency mining to providing infrastructure for AI.

Mining stock performance was varied but busy on Tuesday. Shares of IREN traded around $47.67, Riot around $22.77, CleanSpark around $14.69, Core Scientific around $22.86, and MARA around $12.43. CleanSpark saw particularly strong gains, increasing by over 9% during the U.S. trading session.

The partnership between Google and Blackstone highlights how quickly the market for AI infrastructure is evolving. Big tech companies are now moving beyond simply renting computing power from traditional cloud providers. They’re increasingly investing their own money, designing specialized computer chips, and collaborating directly with data centers to ensure they have enough computing resources.

As a crypto investor, I’m watching the AI boom closely, and it looks like miners could really benefit, even if competition heats up in the AI cloud space. Basically, whether big tech companies like Amazon or Google build their own AI infrastructure or rent it from others, they’re *always* going to need a ton of electricity, land to build on, cooling systems, and reliable access to the power grid. That demand is great news for miners who can provide those resources.

The growing popularity of AI is opening up a new opportunity for Bitcoin miners. While their computing power and Bitcoin holdings remain important, investors are now also focused on how effectively miners can use their energy resources to generate income from AI-related activities.

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2026-05-19 23:51