CleanSpark shares rose over 13 percent on Monday after the company announced its strategic expansion into artificial intelligence data center infrastructure. The Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining firm appointed Jeffrey Thomas as senior vice president of AI data centers to lead the initiative. CleanSpark ranks as the fifth-largest Bitcoin mining company by market capitalization.
Thomas previously served as president of AI data centers at Saudi AI company Humain. In that role, he led Saudi Arabia's multi-billion dollar AI data center program. Throughout his career, Thomas created over $12 billion in shareholder value across 19 ventures, according to the company announcement.
Scott Garrison, chief development officer at CleanSpark, identified Georgia as a strategic region for both conversion and expansion. The company contracted for additional power and real estate in College Park to deliver compute services to the Atlanta metro area. CleanSpark's stock climbed 140 percent year-to-date in 2025 before Monday's announcement.
Revenue Diversification Addresses Mining Profitability Decline
The strategic pivot comes as Bitcoin miners face compressed margins following the 2024 halving event. Block rewards dropped from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, cutting mining income in half. Several major mining firms experienced stock surges of 300 to 500 percent in 2025 following similar AI infrastructure announcements.
AI data center services offer more predictable revenue streams compared to cryptocurrency mining. Long-term contracts with enterprise clients provide stable income regardless of Bitcoin price volatility. Mining companies possess existing advantages including power contracts, cooling infrastructure, and real estate that can accommodate high-performance computing workloads with hardware upgrades.
Mining costs climbed from $52,000 per Bitcoin in Q4 2024 to over $70,000 in Q2 2025, representing a 34 percent increase in two quarters. This growing gap between production costs and market prices forces companies to seek alternative revenue sources. The post-halving environment makes AI infrastructure an attractive complement to traditional mining operations.
Mining Sector Undergoes Structural Transformation
CleanSpark joins a growing number of Bitcoin mining firms redirecting resources toward AI and high-performance computing. Core Scientific secured a $3.5 billion, 12-year contract with AI cloud provider CoreWeave in June 2024 to provide 200 megawatts of infrastructure. The deal generated over $3.5 billion in expected cumulative revenue for the world's largest Bitcoin mining firm. Core Scientific filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2022 before emerging and relisting on Nasdaq ahead of its AI expansion.
Hut 8 launched GPU-as-a-Service through subsidiary Highrise AI in September 2024. The company received $150 million from Coatue Management in June to help capitalize on growing AI computing demand. Iris Energy also announced AI infrastructure plans during 2024, demonstrating the widespread nature of this business model shift.
The convergence of Bitcoin mining and AI computing infrastructure creates new competitive dynamics. Companies with flexible power assets, efficient cooling systems, and available real estate hold advantages in serving both markets. However, pure-play Bitcoin miners without diversification strategies face continued pressure from rising operational costs and reduced block rewards. The transformation reflects broader recognition that cryptocurrency mining infrastructure can serve dual purposes as demand for AI compute capacity continues expanding across enterprise and research sectors.