Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
-
CoinShares expects Bitcoin miners that have pivoted to AI infrastructure to remain in the sector.
-
At least 35 EH/s is scheduled to leave publicly listed miners, equal to roughly 4.7% of Bitcoin’s hashrate.
-
AI reportedly generates about $1.5 million in profit per megawatt, versus $500,000 from Bitcoin mining.
-
The average cash cost of producing BTC reached $75,500 in Q2, above its quarter-end price of $58,400.
Publicly traded Bitcoin miners that have shifted their energy and computing infrastructure toward artificial intelligence are unlikely to return to cryptocurrency mining—even if BTC prices recover significantly, according to CoinShares.
In its second-quarter Bitcoin mining report, CoinShares said long-term AI contracts, higher profit margins, and the cost of reversing infrastructure decisions would keep former miners focused on AI and high-performance computing.
Long-Term Commitments Make AI Pivot Difficult to Reverse
Several mining companies have already made substantial and potentially irreversible commitments to AI infrastructure.
Core Scientific paid almost $42 million to cancel an agreement covering 15 exahashes per second of next-generation Bitcoin mining hardware. Other operators have signed AI and high-performance computing leases lasting as long as 15 years.
CoinShares estimates that at least 35 EH/s of computing power is scheduled to leave the publicly listed Bitcoin mining sector. That represents approximately 4.7% of the network’s current hashrate of roughly 750 EH/s.
These departures could reduce the publicly traded mining sector’s share of the Bitcoin network, although other miners may eventually deploy enough new machines to offset the lost capacity.
Several companies are already abandoning or reducing their Bitcoin mining operations.
Keel, formerly known as Bitfarms, stopped mining completely in June. IREN intends to complete its exit by the end of 2026, while Cipher Digital is expected to leave the sector by the end of 2027.
TeraWulf is also winding down its remaining 145 megawatts of mining capacity.
CoinShares argued that companies making these transitions are unlikely to reverse course because their sites, power supplies and infrastructure have already been committed to long-term AI projects.
AI Generates Three Times More Profit Per Megawatt
The economics help explain why miners are moving toward AI. CoinShares estimates that AI operations currently generate approximately $1.5 million in profit per megawatt for the companies studied.
Bitcoin mining produces roughly $500,000 per megawatt, giving AI infrastructure an estimated threefold advantage.
The predictable revenue associated with long-term hosting agreements can also be more attractive than mining income, which fluctuates with Bitcoin’s price, network difficulty, transaction fees, and energy costs.
The average cash cost of producing one Bitcoin rose to approximately $75,500 during the second quarter. BTC, meanwhile, finished the quarter at just $58,400.
Mining revenue also deteriorated sharply. Monthly average hash price—the revenue generated by a unit of mining computing power—fell to an all-time low of $27.70 per petahash per second per day in June.
Conditions have since improved. Bitcoin’s recovery to approximately $77,000 lifted hash price to around $38 per PH/s per day, pushing most operators back above their cash-breakeven levels.
Flexible Miners Could Expand Capacity
A sustained Bitcoin rally could still encourage additional investment in mining infrastructure.
CoinShares expects expansion to come primarily from operators such as Riot, MARA, HIVE and Bitdeer, which have maintained flexible business models rather than committing all their available capacity to AI.
However, any new deployment from these companies is unlikely to reverse the broader transition among miners that have signed long-term AI contracts.
