A foreign media outlet published a commentary by Yang Haipo, founder and CEO of ViaBTC, stating that an increasing number of mining companies are shifting their facilities, power, and capital toward AI and high-performance computing. This shift will raise the cost of Bitcoin mining but is unlikely to drive the entire mining industry out of the market. The article suggests that the real competition between the two sectors is for access to electricity and existing infrastructure.
AI places greater emphasis on high-quality electricity
The article notes that Core Scientific's self-mining gross margin for the second quarter was -56%, while its data center hosting business generated nearly $80 million in gross profit. During the same period, approximately 71% of TeraWulf's revenue came from HPC leasing. Companies that previously relied on Bitcoin mining for growth are now redirecting their sites and power resources toward AI.
The author believes that one of AI's most scarce resources is access to large-scale, stable electricity that can be rapidly deployed. If land already has substations, grid capacity, and fiber optic connectivity, upgrading it can enable faster adoption of AI workloads; without these conditions, even proximity to a power plant may require several years of construction.
Idle electricity remains suitable for mining.
The article argues that AI does not compete equally for all electricity resources. Beyond the context of large data centers, the power consumption patterns of mining and AI differ. Mining can absorb low-cost electricity that is intermittent, geographically localized, or constrained by transmission capacity, whereas AI training and inference typically require more stable power supply.
The author gives the example that some small and medium-sized miners connect their mining equipment to rooftop photovoltaic systems at factories. The factory prioritizes its own power consumption, and any excess electricity is used for mining; when power generation decreases, the mining equipment can reduce load or shut down. For such scenarios, the goal of mining is to improve the utilization of surplus electricity that would otherwise be difficult to monetize.
Mining equipment will flow to low-cost regions.
The article also notes that Brazilian energy company ENGIE stated this year that it is evaluating the addition of battery storage or Bitcoin mining facilities to its large Assú Sol solar project due to grid constraints preventing full absorption of some solar generation. The author concludes that curtailed wind and solar power, associated gas from oil fields, small hydropower in remote areas, and periods of negative electricity prices may continue to support mining activities.
The article concludes that even if large mining companies reduce their self-operated mining, mining rigs will not collectively exit the market. Some equipment will enter the secondary market and be relocated to regions with lower electricity prices to continue operation. If AI continues to drive up the cost of high-quality electricity and standardized data centers, Bitcoin hashing power is more likely to be redistributed rather than simply disappear.