Is the AI pivot the lifeline for crypto miners?

During the last twelve months, a number of cryptocurrency miners have chosen to exit the sector, repurposing their data centers, power agreements and infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI).

Among those making the switch are Applied Digital, Core Scientific, TeraWulf, Ionic Digital — previously known as Celsius mining — and Keel Infrastructure, the rebranded Bitfarms.

When measured against Ionic Digital's public listing date, bitcoin has consistently beaten all of these ex-miners in performance.

In its 10-K filing with the SEC on July 29, Applied Digital stated that it has “evolved from a company focused on blockchain hosting into a purpose-built HPC data center platform organized around our proprietary AI factory model.”

The firm further noted that its blockchain hosting operations constitute a “single-customer component” within its business.

Core Scientific disclosed in its Form 10-Q, submitted on July 28, that its “hosted mining operations are expected to conclude by December 31, 2026, while we continue to wind down our self-mining operations.”

The wind-down had been flagged as early as October 30, 2025, when the company outlined its plan to “repurpose our remaining facilities currently used in our digital asset mining businesses to support our high-density colocation computing services business as circumstances allow.”

TeraWulf said in its fiscal 2025 Form 10-K that it “has deliberately shifted capital allocation away from new BTC mining investments and toward HPC data center development.”

The company still operates some mining facilities, but appears to be progressively distancing itself from that sector.

Ionic Digital, created from Celsius Network's bankruptcy process, presents an unusual situation: by the time it submitted its S-1, it had already intended to “wind down our BTC mining operations over time.”

Bitfarms underwent a full rebranding to Keel Infrastructure, stating in late 2025 that it aimed to use GPU-as-a-service revenue to support its operations “as we wind down our BTC mining business in 2026 and 2027.”

The company formally announced its complete rebrand to Keel Infrastructure in February this year.

The impact of this strategic shift on these companies' valuations remains uncertain.

When their share prices are indexed to the start of 2026, the companies that pivoted have marginally outperformed those still deriving most revenue from mining, though the two groups still tend to move in tandem.

This comparison is not entirely valid either, as some of the supposedly non-pivoted miners have also begun turning to AI.

Iris Energy has been leasing graphics processing units to Microsoft, Hut 8 has been entering AI leases, Riot has signed a long-term lease with a frontier lab, and Bitdeer has multiple leases. All of them are increasingly oriented toward AI.

Crypto mining as a standalone business has lost its appeal, with miners quickly transforming into AI infrastructure providers.