Google has acquired a 5.4% stake in Bitcoin mining firm Cipher Mining. The transfer underscores the rising intersection of cryptocurrency and synthetic intelligence infrastructure.
The acquisition, introduced Thursday, accompanies a $3 billion multi-year settlement for Fluidstack, an AI cloud platform that builds and operates HPC clusters for main corporations, to lease computing capability from Cipher’s Texas website.
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The deal highlights rising convergence between AI platforms and crypto mining. Cipher Mining will ship 168 megawatts of computing energy to Fluidstack, supported by as much as 244 MW of gross capability, at its Barber Lake website in Colorado Metropolis, Texas. The positioning can increase to 500 MW and spans 587 acres, providing house for long-term development.
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Underneath the phrases, Google will assure $1.4 billion of Fluidstack’s lease obligations to Cipher. In trade, it’ll obtain warrants for roughly 24 million shares of Cipher frequent inventory. This makes Google a major minority investor whereas supporting financing for one of many largest AI-ready mining amenities within the U.S.
Cipher CEO Tyler Web page described the partnership as a milestone for the corporate’s high-performance computing ambitions. “This collaboration permits us to scale our infrastructure whereas serving frontier AI workloads effectively,” he mentioned.
This transfer mirrors Google’s earlier funding in TeraWulf in August, when it secured an 8% stake in trade for guaranteeing $1.8 billion of Fluidstack lease obligations for TeraWulf’s 200 MW AI internet hosting capability. That deal helped TeraWulf shift from purely Bitcoin mining to high-performance computing, setting a precedent for Google’s twin deal with crypto and AI knowledge facilities.
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Analysts counsel this funding might velocity up AI and crypto mining mixing. With Google’s backing, Cipher positive factors capital and credibility, which can encourage different miners to increase into AI internet hosting. The deal can also intensify competitors in Texas, a horny state for its low vitality prices and deregulated grid.
The settlement consists of two five-year extension choices, probably lifting whole contracted income to $7 billion. Because the AI trade grows quickly, this transfer indicators a brand new period of hybrid initiatives that merge monetary, computational, and energy-intensive sectors.
A mid-September evaluation by The Miner Magazine confirmed that Bitcoin mining shares prolonged their restoration and outperformed Bitcoin. The development was partly defined by buyers rewarding corporations that pivot towards GPU and AI providers.
Cipher Mining (CIFR) shares surged from $14 to $17 on the day. They later retreated to shut at $11.66. 12 months-to-date, the inventory has climbed about 151.3%.