Bitcoin mining company's “American mining dream” is disillusioned! Mining companies switch to AI data center construction, and scarce electricity has become the key to reshaping valuations

The Zhitong Finance App learned that US Bitcoin mining companies are speeding up the shift of scarce electricity and large-scale data center park resources to AI computing power infrastructure construction business maps, which in turn greatly weakens the foundation of Trump's push to focus mining activities on the US cryptocurrency industry. The total market value of Bitcoin decreased by about 1 trillion US dollars from the October 2025 high, putting pressure on the mining economy; at the same time, the demand for power supply capacity and data centers from customers of very large AI data center operators is driving listed mining companies to adjust their business focus. According to some forecast data, it is expected that by the end of this year, most of the revenue of mining-related mining companies listed on the US stock market will come from the sale or rent of AI computing power resources; the share of computing power of the US compliant mining pool Foundry USA has also dropped from more than one-third to 26%.

After Trump returned to the White House, promoting the construction of AI data centers and supporting energy became a clear policy direction. An executive order signed on July 23, 2025 requires speeding up federal approval of data centers and related power infrastructure and using applicable federal land and resources to support construction; on June 18, 2026, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission further requested the six regional power grid operators under its jurisdiction to verify the rationality of existing large-scale electricity customer access rules or propose reform plans to speed up access to data centers and other facilities while preventing costs from being passed on to other users.

The Trump administration's policies are aimed at shortening the waiting time for construction and power supply, but additional power supplies, power grids, and equipment still require a construction cycle. As a result, important parks or sites related to Bitcoin mining companies that have already obtained power supply conditions are receiving more attention from AI developers or cloud computing supergiants.

As Bitcoin's trend has been sluggish in recent years, the shift of relevant mining companies to AI computing power resources has begun to be reflected in long-term contracts. Hut 8 revealed on July 20 that its Texas Beacon Point campus was initially evaluated and developed in the direction of the service-related customer American Bitcoin, but eventually signed two 15-year AI leases. The total leased IT capacity reached 704 megawatts, and the total basic lease contract reached 19.6 billion US dollars. TeraWolf also announced on July 6 that it has signed a 20-year lease with Anthropic, involving approximately 401 megawatts of IT load. The revenue from the basic lease contract is estimated to be around US$19 billion, and capacity is scheduled to be delivered starting in the second half of 2027. These inter-term contracts provide companies with longer-term revenue visibility, and also demonstrate the ability of large AI data center customers to secure power supply resources.

The core assets behind this transformation are undoubtedly electricity access, land, substation facilities, and project delivery capabilities. The original mine still needs to upgrade redundant power supply, liquid cooling and network facilities to undertake high-density AI computing; TeraWolf's financial disclosure shows that some mining facilities have been shut down and transformed to expand high-performance computing services, and confirmed related accelerated depreciation and depreciation. Therefore, whether mining companies can achieve revaluation depends on whether long-term lease income can cover transformation investments, financing costs, and delivery risks.

The Trump administration's two goals of speeding up AI data center construction and local mining are forming commercial competition when power supply resources are limited, and companies that can obtain reliable customers and complete the delivery of important computer rooms related to AI computing power clusters are in a better position to turn existing energy assets into new cash flows.

AI boom disrupts Trump's Bitcoin “Made in America” plan

Donald Trump's promise to ensure that Bitcoin mining activities are centered on the US is rapidly unraveling, due to the combined effects of an artificial intelligence boom and a long period of downturn in the cryptocurrency market.

Even after experiencing a recent rebound, Bitcoin's total market capitalization is still around $1 trillion less than its peak in October 2025, and the economic appeal of mining the world's highest capitalization crypto token — that is, to earn rewards through verified transactions — has almost never been so low.

AI's soaring resource consumption has prompted mining companies to compete to transform their facilities into data centers that meet the needs of the industry. It is expected that by the end of this year, most of the revenue of listed mining companies will come from AI. Some cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturers are following suit and turning to the AI business.

As a result, according to data tracked by Luxor Technology, a cryptocurrency mining service provider headquartered in Seattle, the computing power currently used for Bitcoin mining has decreased by 18% compared to October last year. But not only is this market shrinking; its focus is shifting — from the US to eastern Asia and parts of Russia, reversing a trend that has continued for many years.

“The biggest drop is for US listed companies as they are switching to using electricity for AI,” said Luxor Chief Operating Officer Ethan Villa. “We expect this trend to continue.”

This is a sharp reversal for this once booming market. The market was an important part of Trump's bid for support from cryptocurrency supporters during the 2024 election campaign. Given the potential competition from China, Trump has said he wants every bitcoin to be “made, mined, and minted” in the US.

The Trump family is also feeling this change. American Bitcoin Corp., a mining company backed by the Trump family, was founded last year, just before Bitcoin fell from an all-time high. The company has recorded losses for three consecutive quarters, and its share price has fallen by about 90% over the past year.

With cheap energy and easy access to production equipment from local companies such as Bitmain, China once dominated the cryptocurrency mining industry. In 2021, large-scale reforms carried out by the Chinese government changed this situation, triggering the emigration of mining companies. The US then became the center of this market, and a number of listed companies such as MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms rapidly expanded their business scale.

These companies rely on institutional mining pools — platforms that pool computing power and improve miners' chances of receiving rewards. Since MARA and its rivals are listed in the US, they often use mining pools that meet US regulatory requirements, such as Foundry USA. Meanwhile, ant pools and fish ponds are more popular among miners outside the US. According to Hashrate Index data, Foundry's share of Bitcoin's total network computing power has dropped from more than one-third to 26%.

As shown in the chart above, market share by mining pool — Bitcoin mining-grade computing power in the US has declined significantly in recent months. Note: Bitcoin mining market share snapshot by region for the past three days as of August 31; Source: Hashrate Index.

Vera said that mining pool data can only roughly estimate changes in mining activity, but it is very clear that the focus is moving away from the US.

Long-standing hardware challenges

This change can also be observed in the commercial decisions of cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturers.

In March of this year, Auradine Inc., a mining hardware startup headquartered in Santa Clara, California, changed its name to Velaura AI and began introducing a new chip design and intellectual property platform. The company said in August that it had raised 110 million US dollars in Series A financing, making its overall valuation more than 1 billion US dollars.

“Our work on Bitcoin's dedicated integrated circuits has helped us validate these technologies in high-volume production and demanding real-world deployment environments,” said Rajiv Kemani, co-founder and CEO of Velaura AI. He added that over the past few years, “it has become increasingly clear that power consumption and energy efficiency are becoming one of the most important constraints facing AI data centers and emerging physical AI superapplications.”

Auradine's repositioning of the business suggests that the rise in US cryptocurrency mining activity over the past few years may ultimately only be a short-lived phenomenon. Although China has officially banned most types of cryptocurrency businesses, it still has a firm grip on the hardware aspects of the industry. Bitmain is still in a near monopoly position.

Even pro-cryptocurrency lobbyists are beginning to recognize this reality.

Blockchain lobbying organization Digital Chamber of Commerce said it is very difficult to build manufacturing facilities in the US, especially energy-intensive ones. According to the organization, mining equipment manufacturers are actively seeking to move production capacity into the US, but they are often blocked by factors such as long approval cycles, difficulties in obtaining electricity, supply chain fragility, and tariffs.

Still, at least part of the effort continues. A year ago, Block Inc., owned by Jack Dorsey, one of Twitter's founders, launched its own mining machine, the Proto Rig, a simple, gray box-shaped device with fan vents. However, since then, Block has hardly publicly discussed Proto.

In July of this year, Singapore-based Bitdeer Technologies Group said it would invest 36 million US dollars to build its first US manufacturing facility in Sparks, Nevada. The company anticipates that the plant will produce 10,000 Sealminer mining rigs for cryptocurrency mining every month.

“We still see Bitcoin mining as a core pillar business,” Retainna Lin, vice president of Bitdeer's AI business, said in an interview.