Riot Platforms, Inc. (RIOT), a publicly traded Bitcoin mining company, sold a total of 2,201 BTC in November and December 2025, netting nearly $200 million in proceeds. According to its December production report, the sales reduced the firm's Bitcoin holdings from 19,324 BTC in October to 18,005 BTC by year-end, valued at approximately $1.65 billion at current prices.
The company's CEO stated that proceeds from earlier sales in the year were used to "fund ongoing growth and operations." Analysts, including VanEck Head of Digital Assets Matthew Sigel, have linked the recent large-scale offload directly to funding the first phase of Riot's strategic pivot toward artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. "That's roughly the entire capex Riot has guided for the first 112 MW core/shell build at Corsicana, targeting completion in Q1 2027," Sigel noted on X. "In other words: one winter of BTC sales ≈ funding Phase 1 of the AI data-center pivot."
This marks a significant shift from 2024, when Riot sold no Bitcoin and instead added over half a billion dollars worth to its treasury. The company now describes a "power-first strategy," viewing Bitcoin mining as a tool to monetize its power infrastructure in advance of developing data centers for AI and other high-performance computing applications. The long-term goal is to fully convert its megawatts to data center use.
Riot is part of a broader trend among public Bitcoin miners. Firms like CleanSpark (CLSK), Marathon Digital (MARA), and Bitfarms have also signaled strategic shifts toward AI. Bitfarms plans to wind down its Bitcoin mining entirely to focus on AI, while Cipher Mining and Hut 8 have secured billion-dollar AI deals backed by Google.
Despite the sell-off, RIOT shares finished the trading day up 1.3% and have gained over 23% in the last six months, trading around $14.98. Bitcoin's price remained resilient, up nearly 6% over the past week to approximately $92,773.
