The Bitcoin mining sector, which has been under pressure for years, may be turning to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure due to economic hardship, according to Financial Times reporter Bryce Elder.
The transition of publicly traded mining companies, particularly US-based companies, to data center operations could be a significant turning point for the future of the industry.
According to the author, the fundamental problem with Bitcoin mining is structural, a system that ultimately results in a net zero. As more capacity is added to the network, competition increases, margins narrow, and costs are based on energy prices.
MARA Holdings CEO Fred Thiel said in November that miners’ daily block reward would drop from 450. $BTC up to 225 $BTC As the next halving occurs in 2028, we will see that calculations in this area become increasingly difficult. According to Thiel, the period from 2028 to 2032 will become even tougher for miners unless Bitcoin grows by more than 50% annually.
Additionally, it was expected that transaction fees would be replaced by block subsidies, but this transition has not yet taken place. On-chain trading volume remains limited, and open positions in the derivatives market have declined to approximately $50 billion.
Recently, a notable development occurred on the Bitcoin network. Network difficulty decreased by approximately 11%, the largest decrease since China’s ban in 2021. This suggests that some miners have shut down their machines.
Hashrate, which measures the total power of the network, also fell sharply last month. Furthermore, the fact that a large portion of the compensation went to miners of “unknown” origin strengthens the possibility that the equipment manufacturer started its own business.
The solution, Morgan Stanley analysts say, may be to turn mining facilities into AI data centers. The bank’s analysis shows that there is a significant global shortage of AI computing power. Morgan Stanley predicts that U.S. data center power demand will increase by 74 gigawatts between 2025 and 2028. Considering already built centers and existing grid capacity, there could be a power deficit of approximately 49 gigawatts. Converting all Bitcoin mining sites in the United States could reduce this deficit by 10 to 15 gigawatts.
These ratings are based on an agreement made in December. Hut 8 has partnered with cloud platform developer Fluidstack to convert a crypto mining facility in Los Angeles into a data center. The client is AI company Anthropic, and payment will be handled by Google.
According to Hashrate Index data, the United States ranks first in global Bitcoin mining with a 37.5% share. Russia (16.4%) and China (11.7%) followed. The move of US-based miners to AI data centers could lead to a retreat of network power to countries outside the US. This could weaken the US’ strategic position in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The development could cause political contradictions, especially for Donald Trump, who pledged to make the United States the “crypto capital of the world” during his re-election campaign.
*This is not investment advice.
