The mining company Bitfury has announced plans to invest $1 billion in ‘ethical companies’ within the sectors of AI, quantum computing, and decentralized systems, according to Fortune.
$200 million will be allocated in 2026, with the remaining funds distributed over the following years.
Founded in 2011, when the first cryptocurrency was valued at less than $30, Bitfury has since divided its operations into two areas: mining and artificial intelligence.
Two separate companies have been established for cryptocurrency mining, both listed on Nasdaq with a combined valuation exceeding $9 billion:
- Cipher Mining (CIFR) operates in the US and is valued at $5.5 billion;
- Hut8 (HUT) operates in Canada ($4 billion).
Separately, LiquidStack and Axelera AI function independently. The former focuses on data center cooling, while the latter develops software and hardware for artificial intelligence.
“We were entrepreneurs driven by a mission. We embraced bitcoin and brought its power to the world. Now we want to enable others to succeed and make the planet better,” said Executive Vice Chairman George Kikvadze.
Bitfury has yet to finalize the exact list of companies for investment. Potential recipients must operate in the fields of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and transparent decentralized systems. Other categories, such as ‘self-sovereign identity,’ which allows individuals to control their data through cryptography, are also considered.
Co-founder Valery Vavilov emphasized that such technologies will play a crucial role in the future, especially amid the growing prevalence of AI avatars that complicate the recognition of real individuals.
Kikvadze added that the company aims to be forward-thinking in its technology investments.
“We are big fans of Buckminster Fuller, who said: ‘You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete,'” he said.
Vavilov highlighted that Bitfury’s activities are shifting towards a new investment fund due to the convergence of AI and cryptocurrencies.
“Why now? Because artificial intelligence is taking over the world, and we see a huge synergistic effect from the interaction of AI and decentralized systems,” he said.
Miners Turn to AI
In November, MARA CEO Fred Thiel stated that the bitcoin mining industry is experiencing a challenging period due to increasing competition and declining profitability.
As a result, many companies have shifted their focus to supporting artificial intelligence operations.
Seven out of the 10 largest miners by hashrate reported earning revenue from activities in AI or high-performance computing (HPC). The remaining three plan to follow suit.
Major deals:
- In June 2024, Core Scientific signed a 12-year contract with AI firm CoreWeave to provide infrastructure with a capacity of 200 MW for hosting Nvidia GPUs;
- In August, TeraWulf entered into a 10-year contract with cloud AI platform Fluidstack;
- In October, CleanSpark acquired 110 hectares of land and 285 MW of power in Texas for a ‘next-generation’ AI and HPC campus;
- In August, MARA purchased 64% of Exaion — a subsidiary of EDF — to expand global capabilities in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing;
- Riot evaluated the option of converting approximately 600 MW in Corsicana for AI and HPC and suspended all mining expansion plans;
- Cipher Mining leased a data center in Colorado City (Texas) to UK-based platform Fluidstack;
- Phoenix Group from Abu Dhabi planned to increase data center capacity to over 1 GW with a focus on artificial intelligence.
In August 2024, the energy consumption of AI surpassed the costs of bitcoin mining.