Bitcoin mining companies are undergoing a strategic transformation, shifting from solely producing new tokens to capitalizing on the surging power demands of artificial intelligence, according to VanEck's Head of Digital Asset Research Matthew Sigel. He described miners as "sitting on a gold mine" due to their ability to monetize existing energy-intensive data center infrastructure for AI compute and grid-balancing services.
Sigel argued that Bitcoin mining stocks represent a compelling investment, as these firms are "aggressively diversifying their bitcoin capacity to serve the AI market" while still trading at a "huge discount to other data center peers on a market cap-to-megawatt basis." This pivot is seen as a response to multiple demand shocks on the electrical grid, driven by AI, reshoring, and even defense applications requiring high-intensity electricity.
The trend is exemplified by major public miners. Core Scientific recently announced plans to liquidate the majority of its bitcoin holdings this year to fund expansion into AI and high-performance computing. It also secured up to $1 billion in financing from Morgan Stanley for this infrastructure shift. Riot Platforms CEO Jason Les stated that 2025 was a "watershed year," with the company unlocking its nearly two-gigawatt power portfolio for high-demand data center infrastructure to drive shareholder value.
Another miner, MARA Holdings, struck a deal in February to convert its mining sites into hyperscale data center campuses. This strategic shift is reflected in stock performance: Core Scientific's shares are up 90% over the past 12 months, and Riot is up 91%, while MARA is down 35% due to higher mining costs and declining block production in 2025.
Sigel also commented on Bitcoin's market outlook, noting it remains in a "trading range" between $59,000 and $72,000 in the near term, with selling from long-term holders easing recently, providing "more stability." He promoted VanEck's NODE exchange-traded fund, which invests in companies tied to the on-chain economy and is up over 30% since its launch last May, holding $56 million in net assets.
