Bitcoin Miners Spend Billions on AI, But Revenue Still Way Behind

Public Bitcoin miners are pouring money into AI and high-performance computing, but revenue hasn’t kept up. BlocksBridge Consulting found 15 miners and data-center firms spent $30.7 billion on capital assets in 2026 so far, already 42% above all of 2025.

The Gap Is Steep

Nine comparable miners spent $5.11 billion in capex during H1 2026 but earned just $341.2 million from AI and HPC, a roughly 15-to-1 spending-to-revenue ratio.

Q2 AI/HPC revenue jumped 52% quarter-over-quarter to $205.8 million, with Core Scientific, TeraWulf, and Bitdeer leading gains.

BlocksBridge noted that converting mining infrastructure into AI-ready capacity requires new substations, cooling systems, and networking gear, well beyond existing power and land assets.

Bitcoin Price Backdrop

The shift comes as bitcoin surged over 13% this week past $72,000, following Treasury’s expanded bond buyback announcement.

CoinShares also rebranded its mining ETF this week to include AI and power companies, signaling the industry-wide shift.