- AiOnX Acquires 77% Stake in US-Based Cryptocurrency Miner
- The deal will allow it to take control of 15 data centers in the US and Sweden.
- The $500 million acquisition allows it to secure access to 1.3 gigawatts of power, an increasingly scarce commodity for AI data centers.
AiOnX, a major data center infrastructure developer focused on hyperscalers across Europe, has acquired a majority stake in US cryptocurrency mining company Genesis Digital Assets.
In the transaction, valued at $500 million, its parent company, SWI Group, acquires a 77% stake in GDA and gives it control over 15 crypto mining data centers in the US and Sweden, and perhaps most importantly, access to 1.3 Gigawatts of available power.
The deal covers 15 data centers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, as well as two sites in Sweden.
Faster construction with easy access to energy
The SWI Group measure was informed by DataCenterDynamicswhich said a deal was in the works between SWI and a then-unnamed US crypto mining entity.
It appears to have been dictated by GDA’s access to readily available power, even as most hyperscaler builds continue to struggle with their own power limitations, and as studies indicate, could eventually halt the growth of AI data centers as early as 2030.
The reason GDA was a relatively obvious acquisition by SWI, thanks to its energy connectivity.
“Electrical connectivity is the most valuable asset in today’s digital infrastructure, and converting legacy cryptocurrency mining infrastructure into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing is the highest and best use of these assets,” said SWI founder and CEO Max-Hervé George.
“We’ve been investing in energy connectivity since 2020. Here’s what that thesis looks like at scale.”
This is not an isolated move, however, as many cryptocurrency miners are now turning to or being outright acquired by AI hyperscalers as computing demand and overall power continues unabated as models grow over time.
The reason is that crypto mining is not only relatively unprofitable compared to AI workloads that rent GPUs under long-term contracts, but it is also inconsistent, as cryptocurrency prices tend to fluctuate, creating an unpredictable payday for crypto miners, many of whom are heavily infused with debt to cover their scaling needs.
While modern crypto-ASICs cannot be repurposed for AI needs, the power they consume, much of which is locked in by long-term contracts, is much more valuable to AI data centers as their power needs are already taken care of and available on-site, compared to many otherwise ambitious and time-consuming power generation projects that some hyperscalers have been directly forced to invest in.
To put it in context, according to Coindesk estimates, AI contracts offer margins of up to 85% with multi-year revenue visibility, making crypto mining even as hashrates continue to rise while Bitcoin remains below $70,000, reflecting a broader crypto market that some consider has already entered a bear-induced winter.
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