Bitcoin miners are emerging as an important part of the AI infrastructure supply chain because they control large amounts of power capacity and real estate data centers that are increasingly difficult to secure, according to a new research note from Bernstein.
Analysts Gautam Chhugani, Mahika Sapra, Sanskar Chindalia and Harsh Misra estimate that publicly traded Bitcoin miners control more than 27 gigawatts of planned power capacity and have announced more than $90 billion in AI-related deals spanning 3.7 gigawatts with hyperscalers, neocloud providers and chipmakers.
A search from April 29 Short of RAND said it expects the United States to add about 82 GW of additional net available capacity by 2030.
The planned energy portfolio of 11 public Bitcoin mining companies. Source: Bernstein
According to Bernstein, access to electricityrather than chips, have become the main bottleneck for scaling AI data centers. Utility providers can take more than four years to approve new grid connections, even in data center-friendly states like Texas.
“The median wait time to get a GW of electricity is no less than about 50 months in all states, and even in politically favorable states like Texas, the utility follows a batch review process to navigate the interconnection queue and resource load,” the analysts wrote.
Increasing regulatory oversight and local opposition to large-scale data centers Add to these delays, giving Bitcoin miners an advantage because they already operate sites connected to the network and have experience managing high-density computing facilities.
Related: The real ‘supercycle’ isn’t crypto, it’s AI infrastructure: analyst
A change in the mining economy
Bernstein said Bitcoin miners are increasingly diversifying into AI infrastructure as they seek new revenue streams after the 2024 halving, which reduced mining rewards and put pressure on profit margins.
The report states that several miners have gone beyond their traditional focus on Bitcoin production to develop AI data centers and high-performance computing facilities.
A recent example is Soluna Holdings, which reported a 58% increase of first-quarter revenue, driven primarily by its data center hosting business, while cryptocurrency mining contributed a smaller share of total sales.
Bernstein also highlighted IREN as a prominent example of this change. The company said IREN is well-positioned to evolve a large part of its business into AI infrastructure following its multibillion-dollar deals with Microsoft.
IREN’s partnership with Microsoft could fundamentally change its business model, according to Bernstein. Source: Bernstein
Related: CoreWeave’s $8.5 billion loan shows how AI is replacing cryptocurrency mining financing
