Взлет долгов биткоин-майнеров: как инвестиции в ИИ меняют ландшафт криптодобычи Headline: Surge in Bitcoin Miners Debt: How AI Investments Are Transforming the Crypto Mining Landscape

Over the course of a year, the cumulative debt of Bitcoin miners surged sixfold, rising from $2.1 billion to $12.7 billion. Analysts from VanEck have attributed this trend to the simultaneous need for investment in mining equipment and fulfilling requirements in the field of artificial intelligence.

Nathan Franckowitz and Matthew Sigel clarified that without continuous investments in modern cryptocurrency mining devices, miners’ share of the global hash rate diminishes. This decline results in lower rewards.

Historically, they financed capital expenditures through stock issuance, but now they are increasingly utilizing debt instruments.

According to The Miner Mag, the total liabilities of 25 publicly listed mining companies reached $4.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, $200 million at the start of 2025, and $1.5 billion in the second quarter.

The most recent halving occurred in April 2024, reducing the reward for mined blocks in the Bitcoin network to 3.125 BTC.

In September of this year, Bitcoin mining profitability fell by more than 7%. Against this backdrop, miners began to diversify their businesses.

Primarily, companies have redirected their energy resources towards artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. One of the largest transactions involved the acquisition of mining center operator Core Scientific by AI hyperscaler CoreWeave for $9 billion in July.

In August, Google increased its stake in TeraWulf to 14% by expanding financial guarantees up to $3.2 billion. In September, the miner announced it would raise $3 billion for the construction of data centers.

The firm IREN had previously invested $193 million in AI computing.

Nevertheless, VanEck remains confident that the miners’ shift towards AI does not pose a threat to the security of the leading cryptocurrency’s blockchain. Franckowitz and Sigel believe that «the prioritized consumption of electricity for artificial intelligence ultimately benefits Bitcoin.»

“Mining digital gold remains a straightforward method for rapidly monetizing excess electricity in remote or developing markets, effectively subsidizing the growth of data centers initially designed with the capability to convert for AI and HPC needs,” they added.

The demand for AI computing also exhibits a cyclical nature throughout the day and is influenced by human activity, creating a natural balance between the two sectors, the experts concluded.

As a reminder, the ASIC miner manufacturer Canaan unveiled an eco-friendly solution for Bitcoin mining, which resulted in a 40% surge in the company’s stock price.