Lekker Capital CIO Quinn Thompson argues in X that the collapse of the mining financial system, mixed with a rising shift by public miners towards AI and high-performance computing, may rework corporations. $BTC Treasury bonds into a brand new supply of market provide.
“An enormous underrated hurdle for Bitcoin is the catastrophe that’s the mining financial system. The one means for this to get better is thru a decline in hashrate, which is being spearheaded by AI computing pioneers like CORZ, WULF, CIFR, IREN, and so forth.,” Thompson wrote.
The chart Thompson shared frames the problem visually. It reveals that mixture bitcoin holdings amongst main publicly traded miners rise sharply by 2024 and 2025 earlier than falling in 2026. Thompson’s argument just isn’t that the AI flip is structurally bearish.
Conversely, a decrease hash fee and fewer uneconomic competitors may enhance the well being of the mining trade over time. His level is that the transition itself is dear and that capex-heavy AI builds might pressure miners to liquidate $BTC which had beforehand been handled as strategic treasure.
“Whereas helpful for the long-term well being and sustainability of the community financial system, it presents a dilemma for costs within the quick time period, as Bitcoin miners have virtually 80,000 Bitcoin on their steadiness sheets. As these corporations transfer away from $BTC mining, 1) want capital to fund the capex necessities for AI growth and a couple of) haven’t any purpose to take care of any $BTC on their steadiness sheet (though they should not have executed it earlier than both),” he argued.
Bitcoin Miners Pivot In the direction of AI
The 2025 filings and public knowledge make that argument extra concrete. Core Scientific’s fourth-quarter outcomes confirmed the enterprise combine is shifting away from mining and towards AI-related infrastructure: self-mining income fell to $42.2 million from $79.9 million a yr earlier, whereas colocation income rose to $31.3 million from $8.5 million. Administration mentioned the decline in hosted mining mirrored the “continued strategic shift” towards high-density placement. For all of 2025, Core generated $402.5 million in income from the sale of digital belongings and ended the yr with $2,537. $BTC in its steadiness sheet.
TeraWulf affords a good cleaner learn. The corporate mentioned that in 2025 it “solidified HPC internet hosting as its major progress driver,” signed greater than $12.8 billion in long-term buyer contracts and constructed a platform with 522 megawatts of vital IT underneath contract. Nonetheless, the legacy mining enterprise was nonetheless being monetized as that growth took form: This autumn digital asset income was $26.1 million, versus $9.7 million in HPC leasing income, and the corporate’s year-end digital asset trailer reveals 1,496 $BTC mined, 1,500 $BTC eradicated, and solely 3 $BTC that stay on the steadiness sheet as of December 31, 2025.
Cipher and IREN present two different variations of the identical pattern. Cipher mentioned it elevated its give attention to HPC in 2025 and signed two HPC tenants for a mixed knowledge middle capability of 600 MW. He additionally bought roughly $214.7 million in bitcoin in the course of the yr. On the finish of the yr, Cipher had categorised $94.9 million value of Black Pearl mining rigs as held on the market after signing a sublease to transition the positioning to an HPC tenant. IREN, against this, has already largely eradicated the treasury challenge: with roughly 99,900 GPUs put in or on order as of December 31, 2025, it mentioned it “usually liquidates all of the Bitcoin we mine every day” and due to this fact didn’t have any bitcoin on its steadiness sheet on the finish of the yr.
MARA issues for a special purpose. It’s not but as far alongside as Core, TeraWulf, Cipher or IREN in changing mining websites right into a full AI/HPC enterprise, though it had deployed its first ten AI racks in Granbury in November 2025 and later introduced a partnership with Starwood for AI and HPC infrastructure. However MARA is the group’s treasury heavyweight, and its personal disclosures for 2025 headed in Thompson’s course: The corporate mentioned it started promoting bitcoins within the second half of 2025, promoting about 4,076 $BTC for $413.1 million in the course of the yr, and nonetheless ended 2025 with roughly 53,822 $BTC.
That’s the stress in Thompson’s thesis. A shift towards AI led by miners can cut back hashrate strain and enhance the long-term economics of bitcoin mining. However the bridge from mining to AI is capital-intensive, and 2025 filings present that bridge is already being funded $BTC gross sales, miner disposals and website conversions. For Bitcoin, that signifies that an trade adjustment which may be constructive later should still look like overkill now.
At press time, Bitcoin was buying and selling at $72,322.
Featured picture created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
