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Two bitcoin miners moving into artificial-intelligence infrastructure went sharply different ways on Wednesday: Riot Platforms shares surged more than 13% after it announced a $28 billion, 15-year data-center lease, while Hut 8 fell more than 22% at one point on a revenue miss, Cointelegraph reported.
Riot’s agreement covers 910 megawatts at its Corsicana, Texas, facility and lifts its total contracted future data-center revenue to about $38 billion across three leases signed this year. The tenant is Anthropic, identified in Riot’s quarterly filing; the AI company will own and operate the computing equipment and cover operating expenses while Riot provides land and power infrastructure.
Riot estimates total capital costs at $5.5 billion, financed primarily through debt backed by lease payments, though the financing has not yet been secured. The first phase is expected in September 2027, with rent starting within 60 days of delivery. The company posted third-quarter revenue of $181.4 million, up just 1% from a year earlier, and sold 10,599 bitcoin during the quarter to fund the expansion. CEO Jason Les told investors bitcoin mining at Corsicana could begin winding down in summer 2027, saying that at full deployment of current deals, nearly all expected cash flow will come from long-term AI leases.
Hut 8, meanwhile, reported third-quarter revenue down 15% to $71.1 million, below the $75.8 million analysts expected, according to MarketBeat data. CFO Sean Glennan attributed the decline partly to asset sales and lower revenue per bitcoin mined, while CEO Asher Genoot called today’s data centers “remarkable engineering, but complex, expensive, and slow to deliver.” Hut 8 has secured $7.5 billion in project bonds for two major AI data-center developments, though neither has begun generating lease revenue.
JBizNews Desk | New York
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