Bitcoin Public Miners Gain Momentum as AI Spending Fuels Market Surge (December 2024)
- Why Are Bitcoin Mining Stocks Outperforming?
- Who Are the Top Performers?
- How Are Miners Pivoting to AI?
- What's Driving the Valuation Shift?
- FAQ: Bitcoin Miners and AI Convergence
Last week was a green wave for bitcoin mining stocks, with the top 10 publicly traded miners defying market expectations. As Bitcoin surged past $86,000 midweek and hit $92,000 by Friday, mining companies rode the bullish momentum. The sector's total market cap jumped 5.04% to $69.1 billion, led by surprising AI-driven deals and infrastructure expansions. From CleanSpark's 12% daily gains to TeraWulf's 37% weekly rally, here's why investors are betting big on miners turned AI infrastructure players.
Why Are Bitcoin Mining Stocks Outperforming?
The mining sector's 7.3% weekly surge mirrors Bitcoin's price action but reveals a deeper trend. "We're seeing a fundamental revaluation," notes BTCC analyst Mark Chen. "These companies aren't just BTC printers anymore - their energy infrastructure is becoming strategic real estate for AI compute." IREN Limited exemplifies this shift, securing a $9.7 billion Microsoft deal to repurpose Texas data centers for GPU cloud services. Despite a 1.32% Friday dip, IREN leads the pack with a $13 billion valuation.
Who Are the Top Performers?
The leaderboard shows fascinating dynamics:
- IREN Limited (IREN): $13B market cap, -1.32% daily
- Cipher Mining (CIFR): $8B cap, +43.81% weekly after Fluidstack deal
- Applied Digital (APLD): 28.49% weekly jump as Polaris Forge goes live
- TeraWulf (WULF): 37.37% surge on $50.6M quarterly revenue
CleanSpark (CLSK) and Bitfarms (BITF) stole the daily show with 12% pops, while Canaan (CAN) and Soluna (SLNH) neared 10% gains. "The AI tailwind is real," observes Greg Beard, former Stronghold CEO. "When Microsoft's cutting billion-dollar checks, you know we're not in Kansas anymore."
How Are Miners Pivoting to AI?
The Texas energy rush tells the story. Cipher's 39MW expansion for Fluidstack and Applied Digital's 100MW Polaris Forge campus highlight the infrastructure Gold rush. Hut 8's planned 1,530MW across four states suggests this isn't just hedging - it's a full-scale reinvention. Even Riot Platforms, sitting on 19,324 BTC, saw shares rise 26.90% as investors eye its power contracts.
What's Driving the Valuation Shift?
Three key factors:
- Energy Arbitrage: Miners control gigawatts of flexible load
- AI Demand: Nvidia can't make GPUs fast enough
- Financial Engineering: Public miners access capital markets better than private AI startups
As Core Scientific's rejection of CoreWeave's bid shows, these assets are gaining strategic premium. "It's not about hashrate anymore," quips a Wall Street trader. "It's about who's got the juice - literally."
FAQ: Bitcoin Miners and AI Convergence
Why are Bitcoin mining stocks rising?
Public miners are benefiting from Bitcoin's price recovery and newfound demand for their energy infrastructure from AI companies.
Which miner has the largest Microsoft deal?
IREN Limited secured a $9.7 billion agreement to provide AI cloud computing services using its Texas data centers.
How much did TeraWulf's stock gain last week?
TeraWulf (WULF) surged 37.37% after reporting $50.6 million in Q3 revenue, including $7.2 million from HPC leases.
What was Cipher Mining's key announcement?
Cipher partnered with Fluidstack to deliver 39MW of additional IT capacity at its Texas facility by early 2027.
How many Bitcoin does Riot Platforms hold?
Riot currently possesses 19,324 BTC alongside $712.8 million in cash reserves.
