Cipher Mining (CIFR) has announced a strategic expansion outside its Texas home base with the acquisition of a 200-megawatt power site in Ohio. The new facility, named "Ulysses," is situated on a 195-acre plot and is expected to be fully energized by the fourth quarter of 2027. This move marks Cipher's entry into the PJM Interconnection, the largest wholesale electricity market in the United States, which serves 13 states with a capacity exceeding 180,000 megawatts.
The company has secured power capacity from AEP Ohio, with all necessary utility agreements already in place. Cipher stated that the Ulysses site is suitable for high-performance computing (HPC) and data center operations, in addition to its core Bitcoin mining activities. This diversification is a direct response to the "unprecedented demand for large-scale sites" driven by hyperscale cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud, as noted by Cipher CEO Tyler Page.
The acquisition is part of a broader industry trend where publicly listed Bitcoin miners are expanding into power, data center, and manufacturing infrastructure to stabilize profitability. This shift comes as the Bitcoin mining hash price—a key metric for miner revenue—has remained below $40 since mid-November, a level many operators view as a breakeven point, putting significant pressure on margins.
Other miners are pursuing similar strategies. For example, Hut 8 recently signed a 15-year lease worth approximately $7 billion to supply 245 megawatts of AI data center capacity in Louisiana. Bitdeer has also expanded its U.S. manufacturing footprint in Nevada. Concurrently, there is a growing industry focus on renewable energy, with companies like Sangha Renewables and Phoenix Group launching solar and hydro-powered mining operations to lower costs.
Despite the challenging near-term economics for Bitcoin production, mining stocks have rallied sharply in 2025. Cipher Mining's stock is up roughly 250% year-to-date, signaling that public markets are valuing miners' long-term strategic positioning and infrastructure expansion.
