Bitcoin miners pivoting to AI lose ground as Treasury yields rise

The selloff in Bitcoin miners pivoting to AI infrastructure reflects a fundamental repricing triggered by rising Treasury yields. The 10-year yield, now at 4.7% and near the top of its 52-week range, directly threatens the financial models of companies like Cipher Mining and TeraWulf, which are undertaking massive capital expenditures today against contracted revenue arriving in 2027 and 2028. When long-term rates rise, two things happen simultaneously: their borrowing costs increase, and the present value of future cash flows shrinks. For companies already burning cash during the buildout phase, this double hit is material.

The sector-wide nature of the decline—reflected in the Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF falling 6%—signals that this is not company-specific weakness but a systematic repricing of the entire cohort. Cipher Mining bore the brunt, falling 9%, partly because it had risen 25% year to date through Monday, absorbing sizable gains, and partly because sell-side firms are adjusting their views on its heavy AI infrastructure concentration. TeraWulf, despite rising 53% year to date, fell 7%, while Riot Platforms, up 58% year to date, fell only 4%.

The underlying tension is between the bull case—these companies hold contracted revenue backlogs, control scarce power capacity, and have signed long-duration leases with creditworthy AI customers like Anthropic and Core42—and the bear case: they are loss-making businesses in heavy investment phases where higher rates directly raise capital costs. The sector's viability hinges on whether these companies can absorb further rate volatility over the next 18–24 months until 2027 and 2028 lease deliveries begin producing cash flow.