An Increasingly Tight US Power Grid Is Boosting Bitcoin Miners and AI developers are becoming more closely aligned, according to Wall Street trader Bernstein.
Rising demand for AI and digital workloads has made network access one of the biggest constraints to new data center growth, with interconnection timelines stretching up to seven years in some regions, the brokerage said in a report on Friday.
Miners, who landed large renewable energy contracts years ago, now control more than 14 gigawatts (GW) of capacity and offer AI providers a shortcut to scale, analysts led by Gautam Chhugani wrote.
Sites owned by IREN (IREN) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) can reduce deployment time by up to 75% compared to greenfield projects, the analysts wrote.
The sector is enjoying broader momentum. Bloomberg reported that Microsoft expects the data center shortage to persist through 2026 as demand for cloud and artificial intelligence outpaces the development of its infrastructure. Rising demand for high-performance computing is fueling optimism that bitcoin miners can capitalize by expanding into artificial intelligence and data center operations.
Because bitcoin facilities already run at high power densities and have advanced cooling systems, they can be retrofitted for high-performance AI workloads much faster and cheaper than new builds, Bernstein said.
The broker called miners “strategic enablers” of AI development and named IREN as its top pick, with an outperform rating and a $75 price target.
The IREN rose 5.7% in early trading on Friday, around $67.50.
Read more: Bitcoin Miners Rally in Premarket as Sector Nears $90 Billion Market Cap
