- AiOnX takes 77% stake in US-based cryptocurrency miner
- The agreement provides for the takeover of 15 data centers in the United States and Sweden.
- The $500 million acquisition allows it to secure access to 1.3 gigawatts of power, an increasingly scarce commodity for AI data centers.
AiOnX, a leading data center infrastructure developer focused on hyperscalers in Europe, has taken a majority stake in US cryptocurrency mining company Genesis Digital Assets.
The deal, valued at $500 million, sees its parent company, SWI Group, take a 77% stake in GDA and gives it control of 15 cryptomining data centers in the US and Sweden – and perhaps more importantly, access to 1.3 gigawatts of available power.
The deal encompasses 15 data centers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, as well as two sites in Sweden.
Faster construction with easy access to electricity
The SWI group’s decision was reported by DataCenterDynamicswhich said a deal was in the works between SWI and a then-unnamed US cryptomining entity.
This appears to have been driven by GDA’s access to readily available power, even as most hyperscaler builds continue to struggle with their own power limitations, and as studies indicate, this could potentially stall AI data center growth as early as 2030.
The reason GDA made a relatively simple acquisition by SWI, thanks to its electrical connectivity.
“Electric connectivity is the most valuable asset in digital infrastructure today, and converting existing cryptocurrency mining infrastructure to AI and high-performance computing is the best and largest use of these assets,” said Max-Hervé George, Founder and CEO of SWI.
“We have been investing in electrical connectivity since 2020. This is what this thesis looks like at scale.”
This is not an isolated movement, however, as many cryptocurrency miners are now moving to or directly acquired by AI hyperscalers due to the demand for computing, and, in tandem, the power continues unabated as models expand over time.
The reason is that not only is cryptomining relatively unprofitable compared to AI workloads that rent GPUs under long-term contracts, but it is also inconsistent, given that cryptocurrency prices tend to fluctuate, making pay unpredictable for cryptominers, many of whom are heavily in debt to cover their scaling needs.
Although modern crypto-ASICs cannot be repurposed for AI needs, the energy they consume, much of which is locked up via long-term contracts, is much more valuable to AI data centers since their energy needs are already taken care of and available on-site, unlike many otherwise ambitious and time-consuming power generation projects that some hyperscalers have been directly forced to invest in.
For context, according to Coindesk estimates, AI contracts offer margins of up to 85% with multi-year revenue visibility, making cryptomining even as hashrates continue to climb while Bitcoin remains below $70,000, reflecting a broader crypto market that some say has already entered a bear-induced winter.
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