Riot's $9.1 billion AI lease waits on a build it must fund

Riot's move into AI data centers is best read against its original business. In the second quarter of 2026, each bitcoin it mined was worth $71,667 when produced, while the cost to mine one, counting depreciation, was $90,631. Mining revenue also fell from a year earlier, which Riot blamed on lower bitcoin prices and a more crowded network, while higher power costs raised expenses.

The fastest growth came from the engineering unit that builds power equipment for outside customers, whose revenue rose to $37.3 million from $10.6 million a year earlier. Total revenue has grown about 122% a year over the past five years, but that growth has not yet turned into profit.

The AI lease is what changes the picture, yet its timing is the catch. Until the larger build delivers, data center revenue comes mostly from the smaller AMD lease, which brought in $23.2 million in the second quarter, only $4.9 million of it recurring rent. The rest was one-time fit-out work. Funding the build, not signing the lease, looks like the real hurdle.