Bernstein Maintains Increased Focus on Bitcoin Mining Companies Amid AI Data Center Power Bottlenecks

Bernstein noted that power constraints in AI data centers are elevating the importance of Bitcoin mining companies and third-party computing providers. The firm reiterated its stance on increasing focus on the Bitcoin mining sector, citing weekly new AI-related contracts with mining firms since July totaling 7.5 gigawatts and $15 billion in multi-year contracts. With power accessibility remaining a core bottleneck for AI infrastructure and political opposition to new data center construction in the U.S., the value of computing capacity provided by mining firms is expected to continue rising. Bitcoin mining stocks rose double-digit on Tuesday, with Her8 announcing a 15-year, $980 million lease deal for an AI data center campus and Iren disclosing a $2.8 billion cloud service pact with AI developers.