Bitcoin miner Hut 8 seals $9.8B AI deal, stock surges 14%

Hut 8, a Bitcoin miner listed on Nasdaq under the ticker HUT, has been broadening its operations into artificial intelligence infrastructure. On July 20, the company announced it had signed a $9.8 billion（約1.6兆円） lease agreement that fully commercializes its Texas data center campus. The deal is structured as a 15-year lease covering the second phase of the facility. The market reacted positively to the news, with Hut 8 shares jumping as much as 14% on the announcement. The lease represents a significant step in the company's transformation from a pure-play Bitcoin mining operation to an AI infrastructure provider. By locking in long-term revenue through a major lease, Hut 8 shifts from the volatility of mining economics to the more predictable economics of data center capacity leasing to AI workload customers. The scale of the deal — $9.8 billion（約1.6兆円） over 15 years — underscores the substantial investment the market is now placing in GPU infrastructure and AI compute capacity.

Hut 8's move into AI infrastructure represents a broader strategic reorientation among Bitcoin miners seeking more stable revenue streams. The $9.8 billion（約1.6兆円） lease deal — fully commercializing the Texas data center campus — demonstrates that data center assets can anchor long-term, predictable revenue through infrastructure leases rather than relying on mining rewards alone. The 15-year term provides visibility that appeals to both the company and investors seeking steady cash flows. This pivot reflects market recognition that GPU-intensive AI workloads now offer higher-margin economics than traditional cryptocurrency mining, which faces commodity-like price pressures and hardware obsolescence risks. The market's immediate 14% response underscores investor appetite for this business model transition.