Riot Platforms announced a 20‑year agreement to provide 191 megawatts (MW) of capacity at its Rockdale, Texas campus to Anthropic for $9.1 billion. Riot’s stock rose more than 20% in premarket trading following the announcement.
Extensions and additional capacity
The contract includes two five‑year extension options that could bring the total value to as much as $16.1 billion. Riot already has an AI-related lease with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and says the Rockdale campus will reach 241 MW of capacity.
Miners shifting from hashing to leasing
Riot is part of a broader pivot among bitcoin miners toward leasing power to AI operators. Companies such as Hut 8, TeraWulf and IREN are pursuing similar strategies. CoinDesk has noted that some miners could derive roughly 70% of their revenue from AI workloads by the end of 2026.
Why the model makes sense
This shift is driven by physical assets rather than a sudden change in business model: land, grid access, cooling and power are precisely the resources AI data centers need. Converting sites that once maximized hash rate into long‑term megawatt leases can produce steadier, contractually backed income compared with the volatility of mining rewards and cryptocurrency prices.
Market implications
Markets appear to be repricing miners based on their ability to rent power instead of burning it for hash computations. Investors favor businesses that can secure predictable, long‑term revenue through capacity leases, as reflected in the immediate market reaction to Riot’s announcement.
Summary
Bitcoin miners are not necessarily becoming AI companies; they are finding a more reliable tenant. Riot Platforms’ 20‑year, $9.1 billion deal with Anthropic exemplifies how traditional mining infrastructure is being repurposed to meet growing demand from AI operators and how that repurposing is reshaping valuation dynamics in the sector.
