Bitcoin (BTC) mining is no longer lucrative and several leading energy and digital infrastructure companies are exiting operations to pivot to artificial intelligence (AI).
The process of Bitcoin mining involves miners using high-end computing power to solve complex cryptographic functions so that you can verify and add blocks containing BTC transactions to the chain. In exchange for securing the Bitcoin network, miners receive rewards in the form of BTC.
Related: Veteran trader who called 2018 Bitcoin collapse now predicts 35% crash
The price of Bitcoin has grown exponentially over the years. So the question is, why are companies exiting Bitcoin mining operations?
This is where the concept of Bitcoin halving comes in. A landmark event in the crypto ecosystem, it happens after every 210,000 blocks are added to the blockchain and occurs approximately every four years.
As the name suggests, it halves the block reward miners earn, thereby directly impacting the supply of new coins.
And this is exactly why the process has been put in place: to control supply. Unlike fiat currency, Bitcoin has a limited supply of 21 million coins.
But the reduction in block rewards tends to disincentivize Bitcoin miners as they don't find the exercise profitable enough. Though the price of BTC has risen, the number of coins they earn gets halved after the halving and the rising hash rate means it's increasingly difficult to mine.
As Bitcoin mining companies already own the high-end computing systems required in AI, they have found it convenient to abandon mining for AI.
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Bitfarms to exit Bitcoin mining by 2027
One such company is Bitfarms Ltd. (Nasdaq/TSX: BITF).
An energy and digital infrastructure company with operations in North America, the company has plans to wind down its Bitcoin mining business by 2027.
It said it will instead deploy its existing date centres in AI operations, beginning with the 18 MW Bitcoin mining facility in Washington State. The site is targeted for completion in December 2026.
The company said it has already secured a $128 million agreement with a major public American multinational provider of critical infrastructure for data centers.
Bitfarms CEO Ben Gagnon said the goal is to develop infrastructure to support Nvidia's next generation of Vera Rubin GPUs across most of its portfolio.
"Despite being less than 1% of our total developable portfolio, we believe that the conversion of just our site to GPU-as-a-Service could potentially produce more net operating income than we have ever generated with Bitcoin mining," he added.
The company said that it will wind down its Bitcoin operations over 2026 and 2027 after reporting a steep $46 million loss in the third quarter — nearly double the $24 million it lost during the same period last year.
The company's stock was trading at $2.81 on Nasdaq at the time of writing, up 8% in a day.
Related: Explained: What is sustainable Bitcoin mining?
This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Nov 20, 2025, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
