Bitcoin miners are extending their gains in pre-market trading as the boom in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (AI/HPC) accelerates, particularly benefiting those pivoting their operations toward AI infrastructure.
IREN (IREN) is up 4% at $66 after a 6% rise on Thursday, now up more than 520% year to date. TerraWulf (WULF) is up 5% premarket after rising 10% on Thursday, bringing its year-to-date gain to 150%. Other notable players include Cipher Mining (CIFR), CleanSpark (CLSK), and Bitfarms (BITF), all of which are trading 2-4% higher pre-market.
The total market capitalization of mining companies is approaching $90 billion, according to Farside data, and based on current trends, it could exceed $100 billion by the end of the year if current momentum continues.
The sector is also benefiting from broader trends, with Bloomberg reporting that Microsoft’s (MSFT) data center shortages will persist through 2026 due to skyrocketing demand for cloud and AI.
Despite adding two gigawatts of new capacity, Microsoft still struggles to scale its infrastructure quickly enough to meet demand. As the growing demand for high-performance infrastructure continues, this increases optimism for the expansion of Bitcoin miners into AI and data centers.
