AI: Anthropic Bets $35 Billion and Propels a Former Bitcoin Giant

Hut 8 is transforming its Bitcoin-based infrastructures into machines for AI. Its Beacon Point campus in Texas now shows 704 MW of leased capacity for a base contract value of 19.6 billion dollars. Behind the setup are two giants: Nvidia would hold the site lease, while Anthropic has just signed a 35 billion contract with Lambda to use part of this power.

Bitcoin Gives Hut 8 an Unexpected Advantage

Hut 8 comes from Bitcoin mining. This background now leaves it with something highly sought after by AI companies: electricity, land, and already available connections. In May, the company had signed a first AI contract worth 9.8 billion dollars covering 352 MW at Beacon Point, in Nueces County, Texas.

Duration: fifteen years. On July 20, Hut 8 added exactly 352 MW with the same tenant. The campus thus reaches 704 MW under contract. Cumulative base value: 19.6 billion dollars. With all renewal options, Hut 8 estimates that Beacon Point could generate up to 50.2 billion.

The site covers 525 acres and has potential access to 1 GW of electricity. Hut 8 has never officially named its tenant. Several media now identify Nvidia. The former BTC specialist is thus building the infrastructure. Nvidia would occupy the site. And other companies come to purchase computing power.

Anthropic Arrives with a 35 Billion Contract

Anthropic did not directly sign its 35 billion dollar deal with Hut 8. The company behind Claude made the agreement with Lambda, a cloud provider supported by Nvidia. Part of the capacity used by Lambda is supposed to come precisely from Beacon Point.

Reuters estimates the portion intended for Anthropic at around 350 MW. Almost exactly half of the currently leased campus. Lambda will install the necessary equipment. Nvidia must provide the chips and, according to information published around the deal, would also hold the site lease.

The setup thus becomes quite simple to follow. Hut 8 owns and develops the energy infrastructure. Nvidia secures the capacity and provides the GPUs. Lambda transforms these machines into cloud service.

Anthropic pays to use this power to train and run its AI models, notably Claude and Claude Code. The Bitcoin sector already knows this movement well. Miners would now have signed about 150 billion dollars worth of AI-related contracts, covering over 7.5 GW of capacity. Electricity once reserved for hashing now interests AI labs. Hut 8 has just found a big customer for theirs.

Bitcoin Miners Are Gradually Changing Their Business

Hut 8 is no longer an isolated case. Riot Platforms has also just leased 191 MW of its Texas campus in Rockdale under a 9.1 billion dollar contract over twenty years. Again, the identified customer is Anthropic.

IREN, TeraWulf, Core Scientific, and Cipher Mining also follow the data center market. The reason needs little explanation. Building a new AI data center sometimes requires several years just to obtain enough electricity and a grid connection.

Bitcoin miners already have these assets. Beacon Point perfectly illustrates this new value. 704 MW leased. 19.6 billion dollars over the initial duration. An Anthropic-Lambda 35 billion contract that will use part of the campus.

And Nvidia in the middle of the setup. Bitcoin remains part of Hut 8’s history. But the electricity once used to mine BTC is now worth billions to run Claude. The same transition is already affecting other industry players, as shown by this mega-deal between Bitcoin miner Riot and Anthropic.