Some of the biggest names in Bitcoin mining now make most of their money renting power to AI companies. Here is who, how much, and why.
By Michal Beno, CEO, OneMiners5 October 2026
A lot, for a few of them. In the second quarter of 2026, TeraWulf made 71% of its revenue from AI and high-performance computing leases, and IREN's AI cloud business overtook its Bitcoin mining for the first time. At Core Scientific, mining is now only about 13% of revenue.
4 GW+
power contracted to AI
~550 MW
already billing
$100bn+
contract backlogs
35 EH/s+
hashrate set to leave
CoinShares Bitcoin Mining Report Q2 2026.
Who is earning what
Share of Q2 2026 revenue that did NOT come from Bitcoin mining
Percent of total revenue, by listed company
Source: CoinShares Q2 2026. Core Scientific's non-mining revenue is mostly colocation; Riot's includes other services. Cipher is still building its AI sites.
The picture is split. A few companies have already turned into data-centre landlords. Others, like Cipher and Hut 8, are building AI campuses but still earn almost everything from mining today. Riot has signed an AI lease worth about $9.1 billion, but mining was still about 65% of its revenue.
Why miners are doing it
It comes down to how predictable the money is. A Bitcoin miner's income moves with the Bitcoin price every day. An AI customer signs a long lease and pays a fixed amount for the power and space, whatever Bitcoin does. After hashprice hit an all-time low of $27.7 per PH per day in June, that stability looked very attractive.
Bitcoin mining vs renting power to AI, in plain words
AI hosting suits companies with hundreds of megawatts. Mining still works at any size.
The money is real, but early
Listed miners have signed more than 4 gigawatts of AI capacity and disclosed backlogs above $100 billion. But only about 550 MW is actually billing, and yearly colocation revenue is still under $800 million. Listed miners also cut spending on new Bitcoin miners by about $1.5 billion in the first half of 2026.
AI capacity: signed vs actually earning
Megawatts (MW)
Source: CoinShares Q2 2026. Most AI capacity is still being built.
What it means for everyone still mining
Every megawatt that moves to AI is a megawatt that stops competing for Bitcoin. CoinShares counts at least 35 EH/s of public-miner hashrate scheduled to leave, from Keel, IREN and Cipher. Fewer big competitors means a bigger share of each block for the machines that stay on.
The big miners are chasing steady rent. For anyone who still wants to mine Bitcoin, their exit is good news: less competition on the network, and the same rule as always. Cheap, fixed power wins. OneMiners hosting starts at $0.048 per kWh. See every rate on the hosting centers page.
Still want to mine Bitcoin? Start with the numbers.
Open the mining calculatorBrowse Bitcoin minersSOURCES AND DATA
- Revenue mix by company, AI capacity, backlogs, scheduled hashrate exits, June hashprice: CoinShares Bitcoin Mining Report Q2 2026
- Core Scientific and TeraWulf Q2 revenue mix: Bitcoin News Digest, 4 October 2026
- H1 2026 cut in miner spending: KuCoin News, 2026
- Hosting rates: published OneMiners location pages
Michal Beno
CEO of OneMiners, the global Bitcoin mining hosting and hardware platform with 15 published hosting locations, 7-year fixed electricity contracts and a 7-year hardware warranty. He writes about the economics of industrial Bitcoin mining.
Informational only, not financial advice. Figures are a snapshot from public market data and news reports as of 5 October 2026 and can change quickly. Crypto prices can fall as well as rise. No return is offered or implied. Do your own research.
