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Bitcoin (BTC) Miners Bleed $19K Per Coin, Pivot Hard Toward AI Infrastructure

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Brian Armstrong's Bold Prediction: AI Agents Will Soon Dominate Global Financial

Key Takeaways

  • Mining a single Bitcoin cost approximately $80,000 during Q4 2025, creating a ~$19,000 loss per coin with BTC trading near $70,000
  • Public mining companies have secured more than $70 billion in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing deals
  • AI revenue could comprise as much as 70% of miner income by late 2026, up from approximately 30% currently
  • Mining firms are liquidating Bitcoin holdings and accumulating billions in debt to finance their AI infrastructure pivot
  • Network hashrate has declined from 1,160 EH/s to roughly 920 EH/s as operations shut down

The economics of Bitcoin mining have turned upside down. A recent CoinShares analysis reveals that publicly traded mining operations spent an average of $79,995 to produce each Bitcoin during the fourth quarter of 2025. With Bitcoin currently valued at approximately $70,000, these companies are hemorrhaging roughly $19,000 for every coin mined.

This crushing financial reality has triggered a dramatic industry transformation. Mining companies are rapidly repurposing their facilities into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure — and liquidating their Bitcoin reserves to finance the transition.

The scale of this shift is staggering. Public mining entities have collectively announced AI and HPC agreements exceeding $70 billion in value. CoreWeave’s partnership with Core Scientific represents a $10.2 billion commitment spanning 12 years. TeraWulf has locked in $12.8 billion in HPC revenue contracts. Hut 8 executed a $7 billion AI infrastructure lease. Cipher Digital secured a massive agreement with Google-backed Fluidstack worth billions.

Core Scientific is already deriving 39% of total revenue from AI colocation services. TeraWulf generates 27% from this segment. IREN sits at 9% but is expanding aggressively, constructing up to 200 megawatts of liquid-cooled GPU infrastructure.

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According to CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill, publicly listed miners could derive as much as 70% of revenue from AI operations by the close of 2026 — a dramatic increase from today’s 30% figure.

Financing the Infrastructure Transformation

Mining companies are funding this strategic pivot through two primary channels: leveraging debt and liquidating Bitcoin holdings.

IREN now shoulders $3.7 billion in convertible note obligations. TeraWulf carries $5.7 billion in aggregate debt. Cipher Digital issued $1.7 billion in senior secured notes during November, causing quarterly interest expenses to skyrocket from $3.2 million to $33.4 million in Q4 alone.

Simultaneously, public mining companies have collectively offloaded over 15,000 Bitcoin from peak treasury positions. Core Scientific liquidated approximately 1,900 BTC valued at $175 million in January. Bitdeer completely depleted its treasury reserves in February. Riot sold 1,818 BTC worth $162 million during December. Marathon, holding the largest public Bitcoin position at 53,822 BTC, amended its corporate policy in March to permit sales from its entire balance sheet reserve.

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The financial incentives strongly favor AI infrastructure. Traditional Bitcoin mining facilities require roughly $700,000 to $1 million per megawatt in capital expenditure. AI data centers demand $8 million to $15 million per megawatt, but generate profit margins exceeding 85% with guaranteed long-term revenue contracts.

Impact on Bitcoin’s Network Security

The mining industry’s strategic realignment is manifesting in observable network metrics. [[LINK_START_2]]Bitcoin’s[[LINK_END_2]] hashrate reached a peak of 1,160 exahashes per second in October 2025. It has subsequently declined to approximately 920 EH/s, marked by three consecutive negative difficulty adjustments — the first such consecutive decline since July 2022.

On March 20, mining difficulty decreased 7.7%, representing one of the most significant single-period reductions recorded this year.

CoinShares forecasts hashrate could potentially recover to 1.8 zetahashes by year-end 2026 — but only under the condition that Bitcoin returns to $100,000 valuations. If prices remain beneath $80,000, the research firm anticipates additional miner capitulation.

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Mining companies with secured AI contracts currently command valuations of 12.3 times forward sales. Pure Bitcoin mining operations trade at just 5.9 times. MARA was highlighted as among the few major miners maintaining focus on Bitcoin production and low-cost energy acquisition strategies.

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Crypto World

Bitcoin hits three-week low as $14B options expiry shakes bulls

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46% of Bitcoin supply now in loss, near 2022 bear levels

Bitcoin (BTC) extended its decline on Friday as traders reacted to the year’s largest options expiry and continued caution in crypto ETF flows. 

Summary

  • Bitcoin fell below $66,000 after $14 billion in options expired and ETF outflows persisted Friday.
  • Whale and retail wallets added Bitcoin in March even as price dropped and sentiment weakened.
  • Analyst XO said a drop toward $55,000 to $60,000 could set up longs in April.

Consequently, the drop pushed the asset to its lowest level in more than three weeks, even as some market signals pointed to rising accumulation and possible oversold conditions.

Bitcoin fell to as low as $65,500 on Friday, its weakest level since March 2. At the time of writing, BTC traded near $66,300, down 2% over 24 hours and 6% over the past week (per CoinGecko’s data).

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Meanwhile, the move came as roughly $14 billion in Bitcoin options expired, based on open interest. That expiry added pressure to an already cautious market and pushed traders toward a more defensive stance during the session.

ETF activity also remained in focus as investors continued pulling funds from spot Bitcoin products. Data showed that investors withdrew $171 million from spot ETFs on Thursday, adding to short-term pressure on price action.

Still, the broader monthly picture looked more balanced. March recorded about $1.4 billion in net inflows into Bitcoin ETFs after four straight months of net outflows, showing that demand had not fully disappeared despite the latest setback.

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While price remained under pressure, on-chain data pointed to continued buying from large holders and smaller wallets. According to Santiment, wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC added 61,568 BTC over the past month, a 0.45% increase.

Smaller holders also showed similar behavior. Wallets with less than 0.01 BTC increased their balances by 0.42% over the same period, nearly matching the pace seen among whales and sharks.

Analysts watch for oversold bounce

Market watchers also pointed to oversold signals as Bitcoin traded well below its October 2025 all-time high above $126,000. Current pricing left BTC down 47.42% from that peak, while its market capitalization stood near $1.33 trillion.

Crypto analyst XO said March could mark only the second time Bitcoin posts six straight losing months if the month closes in the red. He wrote, 

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“If April sees an early sweep into the $55–60K range, it could create a compelling setup for mean-reversion longs.” 

He also said that the higher timeframe trend would stay in control unless a clear structural shift appears.

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

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Senator Warren is Probing Bitmain over US Security Risks: Report

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Senator Warren is Probing Bitmain over US Security Risks: Report

Senator Elizabeth Warren has reportedly asked the US Commerce Department to explain how it is handling potential national security risks tied to Chinese crypto mining giant Bitmain, following previous reports that the firm has been under federal scrutiny.

In a letter sent Thursday to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Warren requested documents and communications related to Bitmain, which manufactures a large share of the world’s Bitcoin mining equipment, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

In November last year, it was reported that US authorities had launched an investigation into Bitmain over potential national security risks. The probe, known as “Operation Red Sunset” and led by the US Department of Homeland Security, aimed to examine whether Bitmain’s ASIC machines could be remotely accessed for espionage or used to disrupt the US power grid.

According to Bloomberg, the probe remains unresolved, and its current status is unclear. National security investigations of this type can run for years without public disclosure or legal action.

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Related: MARA sells $1.1B in Bitcoin to buy back debt at 9% discount

US scrutiny of Bitmain deepens

The scrutiny follows earlier actions, including halted shipments of Bitmain devices and a separate investigation into a related Chinese chip firm over alleged links to sanctioned Huawei.

In 2024, a federal review also flagged the use of its machines near a US military base as raising “significant national security concerns.”

Mining hardware market share is divided between three large manufacturers. Source: University of Cambridge

In July last year, Bloomberg also reported that Bitmain is preparing to open its first US-based ASIC manufacturing facility, with chip production expected to begin in early 2026 and scale by year-end.

Cointelegraph reached out to Warren and Bitmain for comment, but had not received a response by publication.

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Related: Bitcoin mining difficulty falls 7.7% as miner pressure persists

Trump-backed American Bitcoin buys Bitmain mining rigs

Bitmain’s machines are widely used in Bitcoin mining operations, including by American Bitcoin Corp., which counts Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. among its investors. The firm agreed last year to acquire 16,000 Bitmain rigs in a $314 million deal.

Warren’s letter also seeks details on any communications between Bitmain, the Trump family and Commerce officials, and asks what steps the department has taken to shield national security decisions from political influence.

Magazine: Bitcoin may take 7 years to upgrade to post-quantum — BIP-360 co-author

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