- Bitfarm Moves From Mining Legacy Coins to Hosting Large AI Infrastructure Powered by Nvidia
- Huge power reserves give company unusual advantage entering AI workloads
- AI pivot follows heavy financial losses driven by volatile digital asset markets
Bitfarm, a major Bitcoin mining company with twelve facilities dedicated to cryptocurrency operations, has announced plans to completely abandon cryptocurrency mining by 2027 and move into AI data center services.
It currently has a energized capacity of 341 megawatts, which it claims can support large-scale deployment of server racks such as Nvidia’s GB300 NVL72 units.
The company claims that having existing electrical infrastructure allows it to start scaling without entering into lengthy negotiations with local authorities and energy suppliers.
Bitfarm’s Existing Energy Capacity Gives It an Advantage
This existing infrastructure gives it an advantage over hyperscalers that reportedly face limitations in acquiring additional power capacity.
There are claims that other companies, including large technology companies, have high-end crypto mining GPUs in inventory, but lack adequate data centers to deploy them.
Bitfarm believes its current assets lower barriers to entry as it converts facilities to handle AI workloads rather than cryptocurrency mining tasks.
The company has converted a $300 million Macquarie loan into financing that will support the Panther Creek, Pennsylvania, data center that could reach at least 350 megawatts.
This project is part of a broader portfolio estimated at 1.3 gigawatts, which the company says could elevate it to a significant position within the AI data center industry.
It also plans to convert its Washington facility to support Nvidia hardware under a GPU-as-a-service model that uses liquid cooling.
“We continue to execute our HPC/AI infrastructure development strategy with a fully funded supply chain and plan to convert our Washington site to support next-generation liquid-cooled Nvidia GB300s,” Bitfarm CEO Ben Gagnon said in a statement to Decrypt.
“Despite being less than 1% of our total developable portfolio, we believe that converting just our Washington site to GPU-as-a-Service could potentially produce more net operating income than we have generated from Bitcoin mining.”
The company claims that the revenue potential from this single site may exceed the revenue generated throughout its history of Bitcoin mining operations.
The move follows a $46 million loss in the third quarter, driven in part by Bitcoin’s volatility and the underperformance of its latest mining rigs, which led to a reduction in hashrate projections.
Although Bitcoin recently hit record highs, fluctuating profitability created operational instability.
The company’s move also comes amid allegations involving hundreds of millions of dollars worth of GPUs used in crypto mining under tax evasion investigations, highlighting continued controversy within the industry.
If the AI industry experiences a downturn, companies that commit billions to specialized infrastructure could face significant losses.
Via Tom Hardware
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