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Whinstone CEO Chad Harris takes CNBC on a tour of the largest bitcoin mine in North America.

Crypto companies are suddenly at the center of deal-making. The catalyst is artificial intelligence.

Bitcoin mining companies have expansive data centers, with access to fiber lines and large amounts of power across the U.S. They’re exactly the types of facilities needed for compute-intensive AI operations, which means their sites and technology are in high demand.

Meanwhile, miners need to diversify. Following the bitcoin halving in April, an event that happens about once every four years, the business of generating new tokens has become much less profitable. JPMorgan Chase analysts wrote in a report earlier this month that “some operators are feeling the financial pinch from the recent block reward halving, which cut industry revenues in half, and are actively exploring exit strategies.”

With the burgeoning AI industry in need of capacity and bitcoin miners in search of new ways to generate returns on their hefty capital investments, mergers, financings and partnerships are rapidly coming together.

On Tuesday, U.S. bitcoin miner Core Scientific announced an expanded deal with CoreWeave, an Nvidia-backed startup that’s one of the main providers of the chipmaker’s technology for running AI models. Core Scientific will deliver 70 megawatts of computing infrastructure to support CoreWeave’s operations.

Core Scientific said the deal will generate an additional $1.2 billion in revenue over 12 years, on top of an existing arrangement that is expected to bring in $3.5 billion. In total, the company plans to provide about 270 megawatts of infrastructure to CoreWeave by the second half of 2025, with the possibility of adding an additional 230 megawatts at other Core Scientific sites.

Earlier this month, CoreWeave offered to buy Core Scientific for $1.02 billion, not long after their initial agreement. Core Scientific rejected the bid. The company, which returned to the public market in January after going through bankruptcy, is currently worth about $1.8 billion.

“The world is changing, and many data centers built in the last 20 years are not suitable to support future computing requirements,” Core Scientific CEO Adam Sullivan said in Tuesday’s press release.

Bitcoin miner Hut 8 soars more than 15% after announcing $150 million AI investment: CNBC Crypto World

A day before that announcement, bitcoin mining group Hut 8 said it raised $150 million in debt from private equity firm Coatue to help it build out its data center portfolio for AI.

Hut 8, based in Miami, is one of many crypto mining companies pivoting to AI. The company said in its first-quarter earnings report last month that it had purchased its first batch of 1,000 Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) and secured a customer agreement with a venture-backed AI cloud platform. Hut 8 generates 6% of sales from AI, according to CoinShares.

“The broader market is beginning to appreciate the scarcity of high-quality power assets, and Hut 8 has built a deep pipeline of highly attractive expansion assets,” Robert Yin, a partner at Coatue, said in the financing announcement.

Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot recently told CNBC his company “finalized commercial agreements for our new AI vertical under a GPU-as-a-service model, including a customer agreement which provides for fixed infrastructure payments plus revenue sharing.”

Bit Digital dumps tokens to buy GPUs

Bit Digital, a bitcoin miner that now derives an estimated 27% of its revenue from AI, said on Monday that it had entered into an agreement with a customer to supply 2,048 Nvidia GPUs over three years, doubling the number of processors it has providing the unspecified client.

To fulfill the contract, Bit Digital ordered 256 servers from Dell Technologies, and will soon deploy them at a data center in Iceland. The company said the contract is expected to generate $92 million in annual revenue. It’s paying for the GPUs, in part, by dumping some crypto.

“The Company intends to finance the deal with a mixture of cash and digital assets on the balance sheet,” Bit Digital said.

Bit Digital also entered a so-called sale-leaseback agreement for half of the new GPUs, “which will reduce the company’s capital outlay commensurately.” With the leaseback, another company owns those GPUs, and Bit Digital leases them back, generating revenue by providing the technology to customers.

People wait in line for t-shirts at a pop-up kiosk for the online brokerage Robinhood along Wall Street after the company went public with an IPO earlier in the day on July 29, 2021 in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

While most of the recent crypto deals involve miners, there has been at least one big notable exception.

Earlier this month, trading platform Robinhood agreed to a deal to buy Bitstamp, a Luxembourg-based crypto exchange, for around $200 million in cash.

Bitstamp holds 50 active licenses and registrations across the globe, and is popular in Europe and Asia. The purchase helps Robinhood, a retail-focused trading app, bolster its crypto operation to better take on Binance and Coinbase.

The deal, due to close next year, comes as Robinhood faces regulatory challenges in the U.S. over its crypto dealings. In May, the company said it received a Wells notice for its crypto operations. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also sued Coinbase and Binance.

Robinhood had $4.7 billion in cash and equivalents at the end of the first quarter. Its stock is up 75% this year.

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U.S. crude oil falls below $60 a barrel to lowest since 2021 on tariff-fueled recession fears

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U.S. crude oil falls below  a barrel to lowest since 2021 on tariff-fueled recession fears

A view shows disused oil pump jacks at the Airankol oil field operated by Caspiy Neft in the Atyrau Region, Kazakhstan April 2, 2025. 

Pavel Mikheyev | Reuters

U.S. oil prices dropped below $60 a barrel on Sunday on fears President Donald Trump’s global tariffs would push the U.S., and maybe the world, into a recession.

Futures tied to U.S. West Texas intermediate crude fell more than 3% to $59.74 on Sunday night. The move comes after back-to-back 6% declines last week. WTI is now at the lowest since April 2021.

Worries are mounting that tariffs could lead to higher prices for businesses, which could lead to a slowdown in economic activity that would ultimately hurt demand for oil.

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Oil futures, 5 years

The tariffs, which are set to take effect this week, “would likely push the U.S. and possibly global economy into recession this year,” according to JPMorgan. The firm on Thursday raised its odds of a recession this year to 60% following the tariff rollout, up from 40%.

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What EV sales slump? Illinois’ EV sales outpace the nation by 4:1

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What EV sales slump? Illinois' EV sales outpace the nation by 4:1

Fueled by incentives from the Illinois EPA and the state’s largest utility company, new EV registrations nearly quadrupled the 12% first-quarter increase in EV registrations nationally – and there are no signs the state is slowing down.

Despite the dramatic slowdown of Tesla’s US deliveries, sales of electric vehicles overall have perked up in recent months, with Illinois’ EV adoption rate well above the Q1 uptick nationally. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the number of new EVs registered across the state totaled 9,821 January through March, compared with “just” 6,535 EVs registered in the state during the same period in 2024.

Those numbers represent more than 50% growth in EV registrations – far beyond the expected 12% first-quarter increase nationally being projected by Cox Automotive. (!)

What’s going on in Illinois?

File:Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker (33167937268).jpg
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker at the Chicago Auto Show; by Ray Cunningham.

While President Trump and Elmo were running for re-election, they campaigned on the threat promise of canceling the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs. Along with California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois’ Governor JB Pritzker made countermoves – launching a $4,000 rebate for new electric cars and up to $1,500 for the purchase of a new electric motorcycle.

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At the same time, the state’s largest utility, ComEd, launched a $90 million EV incentive program featuring a new Point of Purchase initiative to deliver instant discounts to qualifying business and public sector customers who make the switch to electric vehicles. That program has driven a surge in Class 3-6 medium duty commercial EVs, which are eligible fro $20-30,000 in utility rebates on top of federal tax credits and other incentives (Class 1-2 EVs are eligible for up to $7,500).

We covered the launch of those incentives when the program was announced at Chicago Drives Electric last year, but the message here is simple: incentives work.

SOURCES: Chicago Business, Ray Cunningham; featured image by the author.

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XCMG launches XE215EV battery swap electric excavator ahead of bauma

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XCMG launches XE215EV battery swap electric excavator ahead of bauma

The electric construction equipment experts at XCMG just released a new, 25 ton electric crawler excavator ahead of bauma 2025 – and they have their eye on the global urban construction, mine operations, and logistical material handling markets.

Powered by a high-capacity 400 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery capable of delivering up to 8 hours of continuous operation, the XE215EV electric excavator promises uninterrupted operation at a lower cost of ownership and with even less downtime than its diesel counterparts.

XCMG is delivering on part of that reduced downtime promise with the lower maintenance and easier repair needs of electric equipment, and delivering on the rest of it with lickety-quick DC fast charging that can recharge the machine’s massive battery in 1.5-2 hours … but that’s not the slick bit. The XCMG XE125EV can be powered up without leaving the job site thanks to its BYD battery swap technology.

We first covered XCMG and its battery swap technology back in January, and covered similar battery-swap tech being developed by MOOG Construction offshoot ZQUIP, as well – but while XCMG’s battery tech has been in production for several years, it’s still not widely known about in the West (even within the industry).

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XCMG showed off its latest electric equipment at the December 2024 bauma China, including an updated version of its of its 85-ton autonomous electric mining truck that features a fully cab-less design – meaning there isn’t even a place for an operator to sit, let alone operate. And that’s too bad, because what operator wouldn’t want to experience an electric truck putting down 1070 hp more than 16,000 lb-ft of torque!?

Easy in, easy out

XCMG battery swap crane; via Etrucks New Zealand.

The best part? All of the company’s heavy equipment assets – from excavators to terminal tractors to dump trucks and wheel loaders – all use the same 400 kWh BYD battery packs, Milwaukee tool style. That means an equipment fleet can utilize x number of vehicles with a fraction of the total battery capacity and material needs of other asset brands. That’s not just a smart use of limited materials, it’s a smarter use of energy.

You can check out all the XE215EV’s specs at this tear sheet, and get an in-person look at the Chinese company’s latest electric excavator this week in Munich, Germany.

SOURCE | IMAGES: XCMG.

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