Key Takeaways:
Hut 8's second 15-year lease at its Texas campus shows how bitcoin miners are repurposing power assets into AI infrastructure at a scale that rivals hyperscaler buildouts.
Hut 8 signed a second 15-year lease worth $9.8 billion for 352 megawatts of AI capacity at its Beacon Point campus in Texas, fully commercializing the 1-gigawatt site and bringing total contracted AI data center capacity across its portfolio to 949 MW.
"The real test of our power-first approach is what our partners are willing to commit against it," Asher Genoot, chief executive officer of Hut 8, said. "Our tenant at Beacon Point chose to double its footprint at the site, the strongest validation an asset can receive."
The new agreement, with the same unnamed investment-grade tenant that signed the first phase, brings that customer's total contracted footprint at the campus to 704 MW — double its prior commitment. Campus-level base-term contract value reaches $19.6 billion over 15 years, rising to as much as $50.2 billion if three five-year renewal options per lease are exercised. Across Hut 8's broader portfolio, aggregate base-term contract value stands at $26.6 billion, with average annual net operating income exceeding $1.75 billion.
The deal underscores a broader shift among former bitcoin miners toward AI infrastructure. Hut 8, which began as a cryptocurrency miner, has repositioned power assets and data center expertise developed during the crypto boom to serve AI customers. The company said all contracted capacity is leased to, or backstopped by, investment-grade counterparties. Technology companies have committed hundreds of billions of dollars toward data centers packed with advanced chips from Nvidia and others, pushing competition beyond semiconductors into power availability, transmission access and construction-ready sites — making electricity one of the industry's primary constraints.
How Hut 8's Power-First Model Works
Hut 8's Beacon Point campus, located in Nueces County, Texas, is secured by a 1,000 MW utility interconnection agreement with AEP Texas. The company said it redesigned the first data hall around Nvidia's architecture, increasing capacity by 57% within the same land and utility footprint — a move that led the existing tenant to double its contracted capacity at the site. The second phase will support development of another 352 MW AI factory designed around Nvidia's DSX reference architecture for large-scale AI infrastructure. Hut 8 expects to begin delivering the first Phase 2 data hall in the second quarter of 2028.
The second lease is expected to contribute $9.8 billion in cumulative net operating income over the base term, or approximately $655 million annually once stabilized. Including both phases, the full Beacon Point campus is projected to generate $1.31 billion in average annual NOI.
What the Pivot Means for Investors
Hut 8 is one of several publicly listed miners redirecting resources toward high-performance computing infrastructure. The company in December secured a Google-backed partnership with Anthropic and Fluidstack to build up to 2.3 GW of AI data center capacity in the U.S. Rival Bitfarms last year announced plans to wind down mining operations entirely to focus on high-performance computing, while TeraWulf, IREN and Cipher Mining all signed multi-year contracts with Alphabet and Microsoft.
Hut 8 shares rose about 14% on Monday, extending a rally that had nearly doubled the stock this year. The deal validates the thesis that bitcoin mining infrastructure — power access, land and cooling systems — can be repurposed for AI compute workloads, potentially driving a re-rating of publicly listed mining stocks as traditional tech and AI investors enter the sector.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
