Falling revenues push bitcoin miners to swap crypto treasuries for AI infrastructure

Public miners sell BTC reserves to fund AI infrastructure as margins fall.

Publicly listed mining companies are offloading crypto reserves en masse, according to BitcoinTreasuries. Proceeds are being channelled into building artificial-intelligence infrastructure.

Long-term hoarding has fallen out of favour as mining income contracts. In 2021 bitcoin-mining margins reached 90%; they have since slumped amid fiercer competition, pricier electricity and a market pullback.

Miners already run data centres and are repurposing sites for neural-network workloads. The business is capital-intensive but appears more lucrative. The strategic rethink is underscored by moves from the biggest listed firms.

How listed miners are changing tack

In February, Bitfarms chief executive Ben Gagnon said:

“We are no longer a bitcoin company. We are an owner and developer of data centres for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) in North America.”

The company is redomiciling to Delaware and will rebrand as Keel Infrastructure. Its reserves have fallen from a peak of 3,301 to 1,827 BTC.

Bitdeer sold all accumulated coins (around 943.1 BTC) to accelerate its pivot to AI. The miner is rolling out NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 systems in Malaysia and refitting several sites in the United States and Europe.

IREN has completely abandoned its cryptocurrency reserves. The firm’s bitcoin balance has been reduced to zero to focus on HPC.

Core Scientific intends to sell most of its coins by the end of the first quarter, directing $170m into AI infrastructure. Its balance has dropped from a record 9,618 to 630 BTC.

Riot Platforms sold $200m worth of bitcoin to finance the acquisition of Rockdale. Reserves slid from 19,368 to 18,005 BTC. In 2025 the company posted record revenue of $647.4m, citing a strategic pivot towards AI as the main driver.

Cipher Digital (formerly Cipher Mining) called 2025 a transition year. The firm sold $40m of assets, reducing holdings to 1,500 BTC.

Hut 8 announced that bitcoin is no longer the company’s long-term focus. The asset’s share on the balance sheet (now 13,696 BTC) will be gradually reduced.

CleanSpark uses its 13,513 BTC as working capital, securing credit lines against the cryptocurrency. In parallel, it is adapting infrastructure for AI, expanding its team and seeking tenants for compute capacity.

TeraWulf holds 15 BTC, keeping balance-sheet flexibility to develop its AI business. In August 2025 the company signed a ten-year contract with cloud platform Fluidstack. With Google’s support, the miner will provide about 250 MW worth $3.7bn.

MARA rebuts rumours

Mining firm MARA Holdings called false the claims that it plans to sell the bulk of its bitcoins. Representatives stressed that its capital-management strategy is unchanged.

The rumour was sparked by SwanDesk adviser Jacob King. Citing filings with the SEC, he wrote that MARA is preparing a large-scale asset sale. The post drew more than 377,800 views.

BREAKING: The largest publicly traded Bitcoin miner, MARA Holdings, is planning to SELL the majority of its Bitcoin reserves.

MARA has just updated its treasury policy to allow sales of its accumulated BTC.

The company currently holds 53,822 BTC, worth roughly $4.7 billion… pic.twitter.com/OTF7sALn5g

— Jacob King (@JacobKinge) March 3, 2026

Robert Samuels, MARA’s vice-president of investor relations, explained that the company merely updated its policy to allow for cryptocurrency sales. That ensures financial flexibility but does not imply an actual drawdown of reserves.

This assertion that @MARA has changed its strategy to sell the majority of our bitcoin holdings is factually incorrect.

Our 2026 10-K clearly states we expanded our strategy to allow for sales of bitcoin held on our balance sheet, meaning we may buy or sell from time to time… https://t.co/pyStJ3zfqx

— Robert Samuels (@RobSamuelsIR) March 3, 2026

“The documents clearly state: we expanded our strategy to allow sales of bitcoin held on our balance sheet,” Samuels stressed.

Any move will depend on market conditions and capital-allocation priorities.

MARA remains a long-term holder of the first cryptocurrency. It holds 53,822 BTC worth $3.7bn—the largest stash among listed miners.

In parallel, MARA is diversifying its business. Last month the company acquired a 64% stake in French computing-infrastructure and blockchain-services provider Exaion. 

In February, MARA reported a $1.7bn loss and said it planned to shift focus towards artificial intelligence.