Analysis: Not All Bitcoin Mining Companies Can Transition to AI, Electricity Resources Become Core Competitiveness

According to Odaily, at the inaugural Energy Investment Forum (EIF) held in Dallas, USA, participants stated that the AI wave is essentially driving a large-scale energy infrastructure build-out, rather than merely software-based competition. Bitcoin mining companies, leveraging years of experience in sourcing low-cost electricity, constructing modular computing power facilities, and participating in grid regulation, hold certain advantages in the expansion of AI data centers. However, possessing power resources alone does not automatically qualify companies to build AI data centers.

Alexander Neumüller, a researcher at the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, stated that preliminary data shows global annual power consumption for Bitcoin mining is expected to rise from 138 terawatt-hours (TWh) to around 190 TWh between June 2024 and December 2025. Around 10% of mining companies have already begun allocating part of their power to AI or high-performance computing (HPC), and more than 40% of companies are exploring related transitions. In the future, the integration between mining companies and AI infrastructure may take various forms, including building large-scale AI data centers, offering distributed computing power, continuing to operate Bitcoin mining, or transitioning into grid service providers. (News.bitcoin)