Bitcoin Miners Ditch Digging for AI Gold: Core Scientific Sells Soul (and BTC)

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Well, butter my biscuit and call me a codger, but it seems the good folks at Core Scientific have decided that digging for digital gold ain’t as shiny as it used to be. They’ve gone and sold off 1,900 of their precious BTC, and by thunder, they’re just getting started!

Core Scientific’s Great AI Adventure: Selling Bitcoin Like It’s Going Out of Style

In a move that would make a riverboat gambler blush, Core Scientific has filed its annual report with the SEC, and let me tell you, it’s a doozy. Seems they’re hell-bent on swapping their pickaxes for microchips, diving headfirst into the AI compute business. Who needs Bitcoin when you can chase the next big thing, right?

Back in the good ol’ days of 2024, these fellas were boasting a hashrate of 20.1 exahashes per second. Fast forward to 2025, and that number’s shrunk to 17.9 EH/s. Seems their AI ambitions are eating into their mining might. Progress, they call it. I call it a mighty fine way to confuse a man.

And get this: they’re planning to sell off the rest of their Bitcoin holdings by Q1 2026. That’s right, folks, the great Bitcoin fire sale is on! They’ve already unloaded 1,900 BTC for a cool $175 million in January. From 2,537 BTC to a measly 630 – that’s a quicker drop than a lead balloon in a hurricane. And according to their SEC filing, those last few tokens are living on borrowed time.

So, where’s all this Bitcoin booty going? Not into more mining, that’s for sure. No, sirree. They’re pouring it into their HDC infrastructure, whatever highfalutin’ contraption that may be. Seems they’ve caught the AI bug bad, and there’s no cure in sight.

Aside from the miners received in 2025 and those expected from Block, we do not anticipate entering into new large-scale bitcoin mining equipment procurement agreements as we continue to shift capital allocation toward HDC infrastructure.

Despite their retreat from mining, Core Scientific still manages to cling to a spot in the top 10 public BTC miners. But with their AI pivot in full swing, it’s only a matter of time before they’re as relevant as a buggy whip in a car factory.

And they’re not alone in this gold rush to AI. Bitdeer, Cango, and Bitfarms are all jumping on the bandwagon, trading their mining rigs for datacenters. Bitfarms, in particular, is planning to wind down its mining operations entirely by 2027. Their CEO, Ben Gagnon, reckons this AI business is the bee’s knees, claiming:

Despite being less than 1% of our total developable portfolio, we believe that the conversion of just our Washington site to GPU-as-a-Service could potentially produce more net operating income than we have ever generated with Bitcoin mining.

BTC Price

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s sitting pretty at $68,200, up a tidy 6% over the past week. But who’s got time to worry about that when there’s AI gold to be mined?

So, there you have it, folks. The world of Bitcoin mining is turning on its head, and these companies are betting the farm on AI. Whether it’s a stroke of genius or a fool’s errand remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure: it’s a mighty entertaining show to watch.

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2026-03-04 10:12