Cipher Mining (CIFR) jumped 19% on Monday after inking a $5.5 billion lease with Amazon Web Services (AWS), diving deeper into hot-button artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
The 15-year agreement will see Cipher supply 300 megawatts (MW) of power capacity to AWS by the end of 2026, with the first phase starting in July, according to a company press release. The facility includes both air-cooled and water-cooled racks, a key feature of high performance computing (HPC) required for AI models.
Cipher also announced that it has acquired majority control of a new joint venture to build a 1 GW site in West Texas. The facility, named Colchis, is located on 620 acres near an American Power substation and has a direct connect agreement with AEP. According to the company, construction is targeted for completion in 2028.
These developments highlight a further shift in the role of crypto mining companies, which are increasingly being used to provide the power and infrastructure needed by big tech companies with lofty AI ambitions. Bitcoin miners already manage large energy contracts and computing infrastructure, and are now in high demand from hyperscalers like AWS and Google.
IREN (IREN), another Bitcoin miner that has pivoted to AI computing, announced a $9.7 billion cloud computing deal with Microsoft on Monday, sending its stock price up more than 20%.
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Cipher on Monday reported third-quarter revenue of $72 million and adjusted profit of $41 million. The AWS lease and previously announced $3 billion deals with Fluidstack and Google bring the company’s total AI hosting contracts to about $8.5 billion.
The company said the pipeline currently includes 3.2 gigawatts (GW) of site capacity.
“As the industry rapidly evolves and our hypothesis that Tier 1 hyperscalers will look to Cipher and non-traditional regions of Texas is tested, we are more confident than ever that Cipher is one of the best-positioned companies in the world to seize the additional opportunities created by growing power shortages,” CEO Tyler Page said in a statement.
