Bitcoin mining firm Core Scientific, Inc. (Nasdaq: CORZ) has secured a major financing facility of up to $1 billion from investment banking giant Morgan Stanley, signaling a significant strategic shift and growing Wall Street interest in crypto-mining infrastructure.
The 364-day facility provides an initial $500 million loan with an "accordion" feature, allowing the company to increase total commitments to $1 billion for future projects. Borrowings under the agreement carry interest at the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) plus 250 basis points. The company's shares (CORZ) traded slightly lower at $15.74, down 0.58%, following the announcement.
Proceeds from the financing are earmarked for a comprehensive infrastructure overhaul. Core Scientific plans to use the funds to acquire and develop real estate, cover pre-development and construction costs, secure new energy procurement agreements, and purchase equipment specifically to convert its existing Bitcoin mining facilities into data centers ready for artificial intelligence (AI) and other high-density, compute-intensive workloads.
This move underscores a deliberate pivot away from pure-play Bitcoin mining. The company reported holding 2,537 BTC, valued at approximately $222 million, at the end of 2025. In a decisive step to fund its infrastructure conversion, Core Scientific sold over 1,900 BTC in January 2026 for roughly $175 million. Its remaining Bitcoin reserves now total about 630 BTC, reflecting a major shift in its asset strategy. Mining operations will continue only to meet minimum power commitments during this transition period.
The financing highlights a broader trend of large Bitcoin miners leveraging their power assets and data center expertise to diversify into the booming AI sector. By repositioning as infrastructure providers for hyperscalers and specialized AI firms, companies like Core Scientific aim to create more stable, diversified revenue streams compared to the cyclical nature of Bitcoin mining profitability, which is heavily dependent on BTC price and network difficulty.
For Morgan Stanley and the broader institutional lending market, the deal represents a structured entry point into digital asset infrastructure. The facility is secured not just by digital assets but by hard infrastructure like real estate and long-term energy contracts, making it more palatable within traditional risk frameworks. Successful execution could encourage more traditional financial institutions to deepen engagement with the crypto-mining sector through various capital markets and custody services.
