Another former crypto miner is quietly making the case that pivoting to AI may be the smartest survival move in today's market.
This time, the proof point is CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV), a firm that began life as a Bitcoin mining operation and is now pulling in billions from Big Tech.
Related: What is Bitcoin mining? Explained
A Bitcoin miner that changed course early
CoreWeave didn't start out as an AI darling.
The company was founded in 2017 under the name Atlantic Crypto, initially focused on Bitcoin mining. But after the 2018 crypto crash exposed how fragile mining economics could be, the team made a decisive pivot.
Instead of doubling down on mining, CoreWeave leaned into cloud computing and GPU infrastructure, positioning itself for workloads far beyond crypto. That early shift now looks prescient.
On Jan. 26, shares of CoreWeave jumped over 9% after Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) disclosed a major investment.
Miners are moving away from mining
CoreWeave's trajectory is similar to what many in the Bitcoin mining sector are experiencing.
It seems mining is no longer reaping the benefits
One of the greatest battles bitcoin miners have experienced is the aftermath of the post-Bitcoin halving.
The Bitcoin halving is an event that occurs roughly every four years, cutting the reward miners receive for validating blocks by 50%. It reduces the rate of new Bitcoin issuance, slows supply growth, and is designed to reinforce Bitcoin's scarcity over time.
Adding to the woes, network difficulty and energy costs stayed elevated. Margins tighten, competition intensifies, and scale becomes everything.
At the same time, regulatory pressure and Bitcoin's price volatility make long-term planning difficult.
As a result, many miners are pivoting toward AI computing, high-performance data centers and energy infrastructure, where demand is steadier and contracts are longer-term. For some firms, Bitcoin mining is no longer the core business; it's just one option in a diversified strategy.
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Nvidia doubles down on CoreWeave
Nvidia invested an additional $2 billion in CoreWeave through the purchase of Class A shares at $87.20 apiece, sending the stock up roughly 9% during market hours. The funding will help CoreWeave scale its AI-dedicated data center footprint to more than 5 gigawatts by the end of the decade.
The two companies are also testing CoreWeave's software stack, including its Mission Control resource scheduling platform, with the goal of deeper integration into Nvidia's ecosystem.
"CoreWeave's deep AI factory expertise, platform software, and unmatched execution velocity are recognized across the industry,"said Nvidia founder Jensen Huang.
The investment builds on a $6.3 billion agreement Nvidia signed last September to purchase CoreWeave's unused computing capacity through 2032.
Related: Bitcoin miners see losses as crypto market flounders
This story was originally published by TheStreet on Jan 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
