Bitfarms Becomes Latest Bitcoin Miner to Abandon BTC for AI
Key Takeaways
- Bitfarms will wind down Bitcoin mining over the next two years.
- The announcement makes Bitfarms the newest member of a fast-growing group of miners pivoting to AI.
- More than a dozen public BTC miners have already shifted large portions of their operations to AI infrastructure since 2024.
Bitfarms Ltd., one of North America’s long-standing Bitcoin (BTC) mining firms, is officially exiting the business that built it.
The Toronto-based company announced it will wind down Bitcoin mining operations over the next two years and convert its facilities into infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC).
The exit positions Bitfarms as the latest major miner to abandon traditional BTC operations—an accelerating trend as post-halving economics, rising energy costs, and record mining difficulty continue to squeeze profitability across the sector.
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Bitfarms’ Shift: From Bitcoin Blocks to AI Compute
Bitfarms detailed a phased plan to dismantle its crypto mining operations through 2026 and 2027 while building out a dedicated AI-HPC business.
The company operates 12 data centers across North America with 341 MW of power capacity.
Its 18-megawatt Washington State facility will be the first to be fully converted, with completion expected in December 2026.
According to the company, that single site—which accounts for less than 1% of its developable portfolio—is expected to generate more net operating income than Bitfarms has ever produced through Bitcoin mining.
Bitfarms plans to use its existing infrastructure to offer AI-focused services, including GPU-as-a-Service and high-density cloud colocation, aiming to create more stable revenue streams than those tied to volatile bitcoin prices.
The Economics Behind the Bitcoin Mining Exodus
Following the April 2024 halving, block rewards dropped to 3.125 BTC, effectively cutting miner revenue in half.
At the same time, global hashrate and energy costs climbed sharply, pushing many firms into near-zero or negative margins.
As a result, over a dozen large public crypto miners have accelerated shifts toward AI compute, where returns per megawatt are significantly higher and long-term contracts provide predictable cash flow.
The Growing List of Bitcoin Miners Pivoting to AI
Bitfarms joins a rapidly expanding roster of miners reinventing themselves as AI infrastructure companies:
- Core Scientific (CORZ): Signed a 12-year, 200 MW deal with CoreWeave in 2024 and plans over 300 MW of AI capacity by 2026.
- Cipher Mining (CIFR): Partnered with SoftBank to build AI-ready data centers in Texas.
- TeraWulf (WULF): Repurposing nuclear-powered sites for GPU workloads and working with major AI backers.
- Iris Energy (IREN): Secured a multibillion-dollar agreement with Microsoft for NVIDIA GB300 GPU supply.
- Hut 8 (HUT): Invested $150 million into AI infrastructure and supports flexible GPU use between mining and HPC.
- Marathon Digital (MARA): Developing GPU-as-a-Service alongside its core BTC operations.
- CleanSpark (CLSK): Building a 100 MW AI data center in Wyoming, acquired from Microsoft.
- HIVE Digital Technologies: Running AI-ready GPU cloud facilities powered by green hydropower.
- Applied Digital (APLD): Transitioning away from mining to focus on dense AI data center hosting.
- Northern Data (NB2): Converting European and U.S. sites into AI/HPC cloud campuses.
Together, these firms reflect one of the most dramatic structural shifts the crypto mining industry has ever seen.
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