Bitcoin Falls Below $119K as Trump Signals New Tariffs on China

Bitcoin Miners Emerge as Strategic AI Infrastructure Partners

A tightening U.S. power grid is fostering closer collaboration between Bitcoin (BTC) miners and AI developers, according to Bernstein.

Rising demand for AI and digital workloads has made grid access one of the main bottlenecks for new data center growth, with interconnection timelines stretching up to seven years. Miners, having secured large renewable energy contracts years ago, now control more than 14 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, offering AI providers a faster, lower-cost path to scale, analysts led by Gautam Chhugani wrote.

Mining sites operated by IREN (IREN) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) can reduce deployment times by up to 75% compared with greenfield projects. Because mining facilities already run at high power densities with advanced cooling systems, they can be retrofitted for AI workloads more quickly and cheaply than building new centers.

Bernstein called miners “strategic enablers” of AI expansion, naming IREN a top pick with an outperform rating and $75 price target. IREN shares rose 5.7% in early trading Friday to roughly $67.50.