Bitcoin miners are rushing to sign deals with artificial intelligence developers in a bid to revive their flagging revenues by finding new customers for their vast data centres. Crypto miners run powerful computing sites, often covering acres of land, where they solve complex mathematical puzzles in order to authenticate transactions and produce digital coins. But with high energy and computing costs, and with the rewards for mining having recently halved, many are struggling to turn a profit.
Other big bitcoin miners are using some of their data or processing capacity for AI. US hedge fund Coatue Management, founded by “Tiger cub” fund manager Philippe Laffont, recently invested $150mn into Hut 8 to help the bitcoin miner upgrade its infrastructure to meet AI companies’ needs. The mining company also recently created an AI division.