Publicly traded Bitcoin miner Bitfarms announced Thursday it will completely wind down cryptocurrency mining operations over the next two years, marking the first time a major industry player has committed to abandoning Bitcoin entirely in favor of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The strategic pivot comes as the company reported a net loss of $46 million from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2025, nearly double the $24 million loss recorded in the same period last year. Despite revenue climbing 156% year-over-year to $69 million, the results fell significantly short of analyst expectations of approximately $83-85 million.
Investors responded swiftly to the news, sending Bitfarms stock down approximately 15% to around $2.70 per share on Thursday, extending a brutal decline that has seen shares lose more than 50% of their value over the past month.
The Toronto-based company's decision represents an unprecedented departure from the Bitcoin mining business model that has defined its operations since 2017. CEO Ben Gagnon stated that Bitfarms will systematically wind down its cryptocurrency operations throughout 2026 and 2027 while accelerating development of high-performance computing infrastructure designed for AI workloads.
"Despite being less than 1% of our total developable portfolio, we believe that the conversion of just our Washington site to GPU-as-a-service could potentially produce more net operating income than we have ever generated with Bitcoin mining," Gagnon said during the company's Q3 earnings call.
The company has already secured financing for its transformation. Bitfarms closed a $588 million convertible notes offering in October and converted a $300 million debt facility with Macquarie into project-specific financing for its Panther Creek, Pennsylvania site. As of November 12, the company reported total liquidity of $814 million, including $637 million in cash and $177 million in Bitcoin holdings.
Washington Site to Pioneer AI Infrastructure
Bitfarms' 18-megawatt facility in Washington State will serve as the testbed for its AI strategy. The company signed a $128 million supply agreement with a U.S. data center infrastructure firm to convert the site into a liquid-cooled GPU facility designed to support Nvidia's GB300 graphics processors, part of the upcoming Vera Rubin generation expected to launch in late 2026.
The Washington conversion project, targeted for completion as early as December 2026, will feature advanced infrastructure capable of supporting up to 190 kilowatts per rack with state-of-the-art liquid cooling systems. This represents a significant technological leap from Bitcoin mining operations, which typically require far less sophisticated cooling and power management.
Beyond Washington, Bitfarms operates 12 data centers across North America with a combined energy capacity of 341 megawatts. The company plans to position its entire portfolio to support next-generation AI infrastructure, though specific timelines for additional site conversions remain under development.
Industry-Wide Crisis Drives Strategic Rethink
Bitfarms' dramatic pivot reflects mounting pressure across the Bitcoin mining sector following April 2024's halving event, which reduced block rewards from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC. The halving, combined with surging network difficulty and rising energy costs, has created an existential crisis for miners operating on thin margins.
Industry data shows that hashprice—the daily revenue miners earn per terahash of computing power—plummeted from approximately $0.12 in April 2024 to around $0.049 by April 2025. Meanwhile, network difficulty has reached all-time highs exceeding 123 terahashes, making Bitcoin production increasingly challenging and expensive.
Energy costs, which now account for 60-90% of mining operational expenses, have become the decisive factor in profitability. Only operations with access to electricity below $0.08 per kilowatt-hour can maintain sustainable margins in the current environment.
During Q3, Bitfarms mined 520 Bitcoin at a direct cost of $48,200 per coin, achieving a gross mining margin of 35%—down from 44% in 2024. The company sold 185 BTC during the quarter at an average price of $116,500, generating $22 million in proceeds through its "Bitcoin 2.1" options strategy designed to offset production costs.
Broader Mining Industry Explores AI Opportunities
While Bitfarms represents the first major miner to announce a complete exit from Bitcoin, several competitors have begun hedging their cryptocurrency exposure by adding AI infrastructure capabilities.
MARA Holdings announced in August plans to acquire a 64% stake in French high-performance computing firm Exaion, signaling its intent to diversify beyond Bitcoin mining. However, MARA has explicitly stated it will continue mining operations and growing its Bitcoin treasury, which currently stands at 50,000 BTC - the largest among mining companies.
Core Scientific pioneered the mining-to-AI transition, signing a 12-year, $3.5 billion infrastructure hosting agreement with AI cloud provider CoreWeave in June 2024. The company, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year, had already begun positioning itself as a data center operator as early as 2019.
Riot Platforms announced in January it was halting its planned 600-megawatt Bitcoin mining expansion in Corsicana, Texas, to evaluate AI and high-performance computing opportunities at the site. The company continues its core mining operations while exploring infrastructure conversion options.
Smaller players including Hive Digital Technologies and Iris Energy have successfully established hybrid models, generating millions in AI hosting revenue while maintaining Bitcoin mining operations. Hive reported $10.1 million in AI and HPC revenue for fiscal 2025 - triple the prior year and representing 9% of total revenue.
Final thoughts
Despite the compelling economics of AI infrastructure - which can command $10-12 million per megawatt compared to $500,000-750,000 for Bitcoin mining facilities - Bitfarms faces substantial execution challenges in its transition.
The company must navigate hardware procurement in a constrained GPU market, develop expertise in AI workload management, and secure anchor tenants for its converted facilities. Competition for hyperscaler contracts remains intense, with established data center operators and well-funded AI startups vying for limited opportunities.
Bitfarms has also begun exiting international operations, discontinuing facilities in Argentina and Paraguay to focus exclusively on North American energy projects. These discontinued operations generated $14 million in Q3 revenue but posted a $35 million loss, primarily from asset impairment charges.
The company has initiated a share buyback program, acquiring 7.8 million shares for approximately $10 million at an average price of $1.27, and plans to complete redomiciling to the United States by year-end 2025, shifting to U.S. GAAP reporting standards.
As Bitcoin traded around $99,440 on Thursday - down nearly 3% over 24 hours after touching six-month lows - Bitfarms' decision to exit the sector entirely signals a watershed moment for an industry grappling with unprecedented economic pressures and searching for sustainable business models in an AI-driven future.