Bitcoin Miners Find New Fortune in AI Infrastructure Race

Bitcoin mining firms are turning into unlikely winners of the artificial intelligence boom, according to a new report by Bernstein.

Analysts led by Gautam Chhugani say that miners’ long-held access to massive, pre-secured energy resources gives them a decisive edge as demand for AI data centers skyrockets.

With more than 14 gigawatts of grid-connected power already secured – much of it in renewable-rich regions—miners are now in prime position to supply infrastructure to AI cloud providers struggling with power shortages and interconnection delays. Bernstein noted that this ready capacity could reduce AI data center build times by as much as 75%, making miners valuable partners for major hyperscalers.

Among the group, IREN stands out. The company, currently the largest publicly traded bitcoin miner by market cap, was Bernstein’s top pick with an “outperform” rating and a $75 price target. IREN controls roughly 3 gigawatts of power capacity across North America and has begun shifting its focus toward AI computing. It has also secured over 23,000 GPUs, including NVIDIA’s advanced Blackwell chips, and expects to surpass a $500 million annualized AI revenue run-rate by early 2026.

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Recent developments include a 50-megawatt liquid-cooled data center and a 2-gigawatt expansion hub in Sweetwater, Texas. Investors seem to be noticing: IREN’s stock has surged more than 500% year-to-date, closing at $63.85 on Thursday and climbing another 5% in pre-market trading Friday.

Despite its pivot to AI, IREN remains a major bitcoin miner with around 50 EH/s of hashpower, generating approximately $1.1 billion in annualized revenue and $650 million in EBITDA. This steady cash flow, Bernstein said, is financing its rapid entry into the AI cloud space.
By 2027, analysts expect IREN’s total revenue to reach $2.1 billion, with the majority coming from AI-related operations that could achieve EBITDA margins near 83%. Bernstein believes miners like IREN are now bridging two computing worlds – the cyclical, energy-driven economics of bitcoin mining and the more stable, scalable business of AI infrastructure hosting.

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