Bitcoin miners sink millions into AI businesses, seeking billions in returnwww.cnbc.com/2024/06/03/bitcoin-miners-sink-millions-into-ai-business-seek-billions-in-return.html
1467 sats \ 16 comments \ @siggy47 4 Jun bitcoin
Either intentionally or unintentionally it sounds like the authors are giving the impression that bitcoin mining is a dying business.
The best way to think about bitcoin mining facilities is that we are essentially power shells to the data center industry,” Core Scientific CEO Adam Sullivan told CNBC.
write
preview
related posts
97 sats \ 0 replies \ @Cje95 4 Jun
CNBC, while it has greatly improved, still generally doesn't fully understand crypto. It does not surprise me that they would take that outlook on it and Core Scientific CEO needs to be more careful when it come to interviews with people like them.
Adam Sullivan is spot on though when it comes to being power shells. These crypto mining companies often locked in long term power contracts at discounted prices so you could switch out the equipment itself and install a bunch of Nvidia chips and run generative AI training at a much cheaper price then what building a data center and signing a purchasing agreement would be right now.
reply
67 sats \ 1 reply \ @freetx 4 Jun
Just remember, none of these journalist are going to retract their statements regarding "mining is dying" in 3 years when BTC is $300K.
Having said that, I do find it interesting that right as the opponents of bitcoin were starting to make a hysterical case against its energy usage: That suddenly, with perfect timing, AI + EV electrical usage appeared on their radar.
The energy demands of EV/AI will dwarf BTC energy usage by several orders of magnitude. Whatever must be done to solve those challenges (nuclear?) will wind up solving the problem for BTC along the way quite simply.
AI/BTC both benefit from being able to access stranded energy, whereas the big monster in the room - EVs - needs to deliver that power to everyone's home. Thats going to be a much tougher solution.
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 5 Jun
California can’t handle air conditioning. Last summer the governor asked people to stop charging their electric cars so people could use air conditioning.
The state has the dumbest energy policy.
reply
54 sats \ 0 replies \ @SatsMate 5 Jun
I do think mining will tend to consolidate towards areas that are tax-friendly and the cost of electricity is super cheap.
As for the businesses investing in AI, all companies right now are going gazelle intense on AI investments. The one I work for includes my fiances and most companies.
It is a matter of fact, that in the next ten years, we will see almost all paper-pushing, menial tasks get eliminated by automation/ai. New roles will evolve.
reply
54 sats \ 0 replies \ @kingzing131 4 Jun
should have framed it that bitcoin miners have been prepping energy infrastructure for all future needs of energy intensive sectors.
reply
54 sats \ 1 reply \ @MANI 4 Jun
Bitcoin mining is dying would be an exaggeration to be honest. It's not dying. The reward they're used to having are cut down so that's probably their reasoning behind the statement.
reply
23 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 4 Jun
I would agree with you, but you have to read well down into the actual article to even learn about the halving. The way the site is structured, most people just skim the bullet points at the top. There is no mention of the halving there. Maybe I'm just being picky.
reply
54 sats \ 3 replies \ @0xbitcoiner 4 Jun
Either intentionally or unintentionally it sounds like the authors are giving the impression that bitcoin mining is a dying business.
I wouldn't say it's dying, but the drop in revenue is evident after the halving. Miners need the price of bitcoin to rise, otherwise some will have to stop, at least those who can't get cheap energy prices.
reply
82 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 4 Jun
Yes. This particular company has been in trouble for a few years. If I'm not mistaken there is always a shakeout post halving. Bigger picture, I would rather see a more decentralized mining industry anyway, like most of us.
reply
42 sats \ 1 reply \ @harrr 4 Jun
but the drop in revenue is evident after the halvin
Price did a 4x over the last two years. Miners who aren't profitable now weren't profitable two years ago, one year ago, etc. Miners who can't deal with something they knew would happen should probably get into a different business.
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @jk_14 4 Jun freebie
Miners who aren't profitable now weren't profitable two years ago, one year ago, etc.
it isn't a true statement
54 sats \ 0 replies \ @chaoticalHeavy 4 Jun
power shells to the data center industry
The article talks a lot about how much power and fiber are already available in mining data centers. This term "power shell" is not explained in the article. I'm guessing it's a marketing term to differentiate data centers that have access to abundant power.
reply
54 sats \ 2 replies \ @Bell_curve 5 Jun freebie
I own core stock
One reason is high performance computing
reply
13 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 OP 5 Jun
Wise man
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 5 Jun
WULF is doing a very limited HPC trial as I understand it. If it makes sense to move in that direction, they will, my best guess, raise some capital (probably ATM) and build out the infrastructure required.
reply
75 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 5 Jun
Bitcoin miners are diversifying into artificial intelligence (AI) operations by leveraging their existing energy-intensive data centers and infrastructure. Core Scientific, a major Bitcoin miner, recently announced a 12-year deal with CoreWeave, an AI cloud provider backed by Nvidia, expected to generate over $3.5 billion in revenue. Core Scientific will provide around 200 megawatts of infrastructure to host CoreWeave's GPU servers for AI workloads.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
The overlap between Bitcoin mining and AI has led to competition for data center rack space, as AI operations require up to 20 times more capital expenditure but are more profitable.[1] Other miners like Bit Digital, Hive, Hut 8, and TeraWulf are also retrofitting facilities for AI to boost revenue streams after the recent Bitcoin halving event reduced mining rewards.[2][3]
While the transition is complex due to differing infrastructure needs, Bitcoin miners situated in energy-secure data centers find these facilities ideal for AI operations.[1][3] Core Scientific's CEO views their mining facilities as "power shells" suitable for the data center industry, enabling a shorter deployment time compared to new data center projects.[5]
Sources [1] Bitcoin miners sink millions into AI businesses, seeking billions in return https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/03/bitcoin-miners-sink-millions-into-ai-business-seek-billions-in-return.html [2] AI And Bitcoin Mining: What Core Scientific's Unexpected ... https://www.tradingview.com/news/benzinga:80e3fe5ae094b:0-ai-and-bitcoin-mining-what-core-scientific-s-unexpected-partnership-with-nvidia-backed-ai-firm-coreweave-tells-us/ [3] Bitcoin Miners Invest in AI, Eye $3.5B Deal with CoreWeave https://supersearchx.com/en/articles/2024/06/04/bitcoin-miners-invest-in-ai-eye-3-5-b-deal-with-core-weave [4] Bitcoin Miner Core Scientific Surges After AI Deal, Report of Over $1 ... https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/06/04/bitcoin-miner-core-scientific-surges-after-ai-deal-report-of-over-1b-buyout-offer-from-coreweave/ [5] Core Scientific's stock pops as company will help hot AI player host ... https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/2024060469/core-scientifics-stock-pops-as-company-will-help-hot-ai-player-host-nvidia-chips [6] Bitcoin Miner Core Scientific Surges After AI Deal, Report of Over $1 ... https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-miner-core-scientific-surges-132904025.html
reply