Bitcoin Mining Companies Accelerate Pivot to AI, AI/HPC Cloud Mining Firms Valued Significantly Higher Than Pure Mining Companies

BlockBeats News, August 18th, as the price of Bitcoin dropped and mining profitability continued to be under pressure, Bitcoin mining companies shifting towards AI and High Performance Computing (AI/HPC) are now receiving higher valuations and more stable income expectations.

Over the past year, the stock prices of TerraWulf (WULF), IREN, and Cipher Digital (CIFR) have all more than doubled, while MARA Holdings, which shifted towards AI relatively later, saw a 40% decline during the same period. Currently, the Bitcoin mining hash price has dropped from around $63 per PH/s in July last year to about $31.8, leading to more mining companies shutting down equipment. The Bitcoin network's hashrate has also decreased from 1.14 ZH/s to around 900 EH/s, a decrease of about 21%.

According to CoinShares data, as of the first quarter of 2026, mining companies with AI/HPC contracts have an average enterprise value multiple of around 12.3 times, while pure Bitcoin mining companies are only at 5.9 times. The total size of AI/HPC contracts signed by the entire industry during the same period has reached around $700 billion.

Recently, the transformation of mining companies towards AI has further accelerated. Last week, Riot Platforms signed a 20-year lease agreement with Anthropic, with a contract value of around $9.1 billion. The market believes that the truly scarce assets of mining companies are not Bitcoin itself, but low-cost electricity, data center infrastructure, and the ability to operate large-scale hashrate, which can be converted for use in high-growth computing businesses such as AI.

However, there is still room for recovery in pure Bitcoin mining. CoinShares estimates that if the Bitcoin price returns to its historical high of around $126,000 in October last year, the hash price could rise to around $59/PH/s, significantly improving mining company profitability.