Riot Platforms Sells Bitcoin Worth $289 Million to Develop AI Infrastructure

Riot Platforms sold 3778 BTC for $289.5 million in early 2026.

The mining company Riot Platforms sold 3778 BTC for $289.5 million in the first three months of 2026. The average sale price was $76,626 per coin.

During the quarter, the firm mined 1473 BTC — a 4% decrease compared to the same period in 2025 (1530 BTC). It retains 15,680 BTC under management, valued at $1.1 billion.

Despite the decline in production, Riot’s capacity has expanded. The deployed hashrate increased by 26% year-on-year to 42.5 EH/s. The average operational rate rose by 23%, reaching 36.4 EH/s.

Transition to AI

The company is accelerating its business shift towards supporting infrastructure for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. Riot aims to monetize its extensive energy resources in Texas, moving beyond traditional mining.

In January, the firm sold 1080 BTC. The $96 million proceeds were used to purchase 200 acres of land at its Rockdale site.

The miner also entered into a ten-year licensing agreement with Advanced Micro Devices to provide 25 MW of capacity, with the potential to expand to 200 MW. This deal is expected to generate approximately $311 million in contract revenue over the first decade.

Riot is not the only mining company using crypto reserves to enter the AI market. Amid falling prices, the trend of repurposing equipment is gaining popularity, as mining digital gold becomes less profitable at current prices.

Earlier, CoinShares analysts concluded that up to 20% of miners are already operating at a loss. For the industry to return to stable profitability, Bitcoin needs to trade at no less than $100,000. At the time of writing, the cryptocurrency is priced at approximately $66,900.

Back in March, Wintermute experts stated that the traditional Bitcoin mining model is becoming obsolete.