Tightening U.S. Power Grid Boosts Bitcoin miners and AI developers are aligning more closely, according to Wall Street broker Bernstein.
Growing demand for AI and digital workloads has made network access one of the biggest constraints to new data center growth, with interconnection delays stretching up to seven years in some regions, the brokerage said in a report on Friday.
Miners, who secured large renewable energy contracts years ago, now control more than 14 gigawatts (GW) of capacity and offer AI providers a shortcut to scale, analysts led by Gautam Chhugani wrote.
Sites owned by IREN (IREN) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) can reduce deployment time by up to 75% compared to greenfield projects, the analysts wrote.
The sector is experiencing broader dynamics. Bloomberg reported that Microsoft expects data center shortages to persist through 2026, as demand for cloud and AI outpaces the buildout of its infrastructure. The increase in demand for high-performance computing is fueling optimism that Bitcoin miners can capitalize by expanding into AI and data center operations.
Because Bitcoin facilities already operate at high power densities and have advanced cooling systems, they can be scaled to high-performance AI workloads much more quickly and inexpensively than new builds, Bernstein said.
The broker called miners “strategic enablers” of AI development and named IREN as its top pick, with an outperform rating and a $75 price target.
IREN was up 5.7% in early trading Friday, around $67.50.
Learn more: Bitcoin miners rally in pre-market as sector nears $90 billion market cap
