These Bitcoin Miners Halved Their Hashrate While AI Revenue Doubled

IREN, Core Scientific and TeraWulf nearly doubled their revenues related to artificial intelligence (AI) in the third quarter of 2026. Together, the three companies generated approximately $478 million through AI cloud and colocation, compared to $239 million in the previous quarter. At the same time, their combined Bitcoin hashrate fell from 32.8 to 16.8 exahash per second (EH/s). The figures show that the shift to AI has now gone beyond the announcement stage.

AI generates more revenue, mining loses ground

The phenomenon was already visible, but the third quarter financial results give it another dimension. IREN, Core Scientific and TeraWulf raised their combined AI cloud and colocation revenues to $478 million, compared to $239 million three months earlier. Meanwhile, their realized hashrate lost nearly half of its value.

IREN particularly illustrates this transformation. According to its financial results, its computing power dedicated to mining dropped from 21.6 to 8.9 EH/s. Conversely, its revenues related to AI cloud soared from $70.5 million to $200 million. Its installed mining capacity also fell, from 23.2 to 7.9 EH/s. In other words, the company is not just talking about switching activities: it is indeed removing machines from the Bitcoin circuit.

Core Scientific follows a similar trajectory. Its hashrate went from 7 to 3.8 EH/s, while its colocation revenues rose by nearly 58%, reaching $215.4 million. This activity now represents about 92% of its quarterly turnover.

The company is also accelerating the development of its infrastructures. At the end of September, it billed 485 megawatts of capacity, compared to 395 megawatts three months earlier. It even plans to completely abandon mining before the end of the year. For some players, Bitcoin machines are therefore already part of the past.

Bitdeer benefits from the miners’ departure

While some miners reduce their power, others capture a larger share of the rewards. Bitdeer is among the main beneficiaries of this movement.

Its quarterly production rose from 2,694 BTC in the second quarter to 3,855 BTC in the third. The company thus captured about 9.2% of the network rewards. At the same time, its hashrate increased from 63 to 85 EH/s.

September’s figures also deserve attention. Bitdeer mined 1,355 BTC during the month, or more than 9.7% of the rewards distributed to miners. The company is therefore approaching the symbolic threshold of one bitcoin out of ten. Upcoming data will show whether it manages to cross it.

At the sector level, however, this progress masks a less comfortable situation. Eleven listed mining companies total about 246 EH/s, a decline of 2% over the quarter. But this figure changes significantly when Bitdeer is removed from the calculation.

The other ten companies went from 189 to 161 EH/s, a drop close to 15%. In short, Bitdeer compensates for a good part of the decline of its competitors. It is also developing its own AI-related activities, with $20.4 million in cloud revenues, compared to $14 million the previous quarter.

Mining machines already destined for resale or scrapping

This shift raises another problem: what to do with equipment no longer used for Bitcoin mining?

IREN and Keel together held about $80.5 million of mining equipment intended for sale at the end of September, after depreciation. Core Scientific declared $29.7 million of stock to sell, including mining equipment, electrical equipment, and HPC infrastructures.

Some companies already prefer to recover part of their investment. Cipher thus resold 6,840 Avalon A15Pro machines to Canaan. Yet, it had bought this equipment in July 2025. Even relatively recent machines can therefore end up on the market when priorities change.

Other equipment meets a less advantageous fate. In its prospectus, Ionic planned to sell or scrap 73,400 machines, while 19,100 others would serve as spare parts.

The shift to AI is therefore not just about installing new servers in old mining centers. It also involves disposing of some equipment and completely revising investments.

One essential question remains: will this transition be profitable enough to compensate for the mining revenues lost? For now, the figures show that AI is attracting more and more capital and computing capacity. Meanwhile, miners still on Bitcoin could benefit from less intense competition.