Key Takeaways:
CleanSpark's $6.6 billion data center lease marks the Bitcoin miner's first major infrastructure deal since announcing its pivot to AI computing last October.
CleanSpark Inc. agreed to a 20-year, $6.6 billion data center lease at its Sandersville, Georgia campus, the Bitcoin miner's first infrastructure deal since pivoting from pure-play mining toward AI computing.
"This transaction represents a fundamental shift in how CleanSpark generates value from its power assets," the company said in a statement, without naming the tenant.
The tenant, described as a "high investment-grade" global technology company, also signed a letter of intent and exclusivity arrangement covering CleanSpark's entire Texas portfolio of 718 acres with up to 885 megawatts of secured and planned power capacity. The contract may reach as much as $11.6 billion in revenue if two five-year extension options are exercised, CleanSpark said.
The deal positions CleanSpark among a growing cohort of former Bitcoin miners — including TeraWulf and Cipher Digital — that have seen share prices surge after landing hosting contracts with technology giants. TeraWulf in June secured a 20-year, $19 billion lease with AI startup Anthropic for a 400-megawatt Kentucky data center.
CleanSpark announced its pivot from pure-play Bitcoin mining in October, joining a wave of miners retooling power infrastructure for AI workloads. The company's stock surged in premarket trading following the announcement, though the tenant's identity remains undisclosed.
The Sandersville campus will host infrastructure dedicated to a range of computing workloads, CleanSpark said, without specifying whether the tenant is a hyperscaler, an AI startup, or an enterprise technology company. The exclusivity agreement covering the Texas portfolio suggests the relationship could expand significantly beyond the initial Georgia site.
The shift comes as Bitcoin miners face compressed margins after the April 2024 halving and a 27% decline in Bitcoin's price year to date to around $63,900. The CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI), which holds shares of miners including CleanSpark, Marathon Digital, and Riot Platforms, has gained 48% year to date through July 6, outperforming Bitcoin itself, as miners with low power costs and modern rigs expanded operating leverage and pivoted capacity toward AI tenants.
For CleanSpark, the data center lease diversifies revenue away from Bitcoin price volatility and toward contracted infrastructure income — a model that could support a valuation re-rating as investors assess the company less as a crypto proxy and more as an AI infrastructure operator. The company did not disclose the expected contribution of the lease to earnings or provide a timeline for when the Sandersville facility would become operational.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
