AI gold rush draws crypto firms away from Bitcoin

The Ekibastuz Bitcoin mine was opened in 2020 and seen as a symbol of the cryptocurrency's rise

Companies that once filled warehouses with computers to earn Bitcoin - a process known as mining - are now using that computing power for AI.

Bitcoin mining companies invested large sums on giant banks of powerful computers as the price of Bitcoin rocketed in recent years .

But those mining companies have faced falling rewards since the value of the cryptocurrency has slumped from its peak in October 2025.

Now many are pivoting to AI and signing deals with companies such as Anthropic - who are spending billions of dollars on the infrastructure needed to keep up in the AI race.

Bitcoin mining and other key cryptocurrency terms explained

Like AI systems, Bitcoin relies on vast networks of powerful computers housed in data centres.

Because Bitcoin operates without a central authority, these computers verify transactions and are rewarded with newly-created digital coins.

But the rewards have reduced and the value of coins has dropped since last year.

One bitcoin was worth about $124,000 (£91,000) at its peak in October 2025, but has since fallen sharply.

More recently, it has rallied to around $80,000 - meaning it is up almost 30% so far in August.

But, for companies that have already made the change, even that may not be enough to get them to return to the crypto industry, because the switch of use - once made - is expensive to undo.

Industry analysts say Bitcoin mining companies have been pivoting to AI because they have years of experience in finding cheap electricity and efficiently running large data centres.

TerraWulf, Ionic Digital, Core Scientific, Iris Energy, Bitdeer, Riot Platforms and Hut 8 are just some of the companies increasingly diverting investment and infrastructure from bitcoin mining towards AI.

Riot Platforms signed a $9bn, 20-year compute deal with Anthropic earlier this month.

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Company names and websites are changing to reflect the shift too.

Applied Blockchain has become Applied Digital.