Cipher Digital shares plunged after Texas governor upset, hitting roughly $6.60 on Nov. 4 as markets reacted to the surprise victory of Democrat Gina Hinojosa — who campaigned on a moratorium for new data centers. The stock (CIFR) swung violently intraday: FinancialContent reported CIFR at $6.595, down 18.8%, at 10:28 a.m. ET, and a delayed quote showed $6.465 (down 20.4%) by 12:18 p.m., with trades dipping as low as $6.18. The sell-off followed Hinojosa’s defeat of Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, a result recorded by the Texas Secretary of State and called for Hinojosa by the Associated Press. Traders on X captured the volatility — one noted that CIFR had been up roughly 18% the previous session before reversing by a similar magnitude on Wednesday, while another technical trader posted that he planned to buy at $5.91, underscoring how quickly sentiment shifted. What’s driving the market nervousness? Hinojosa’s campaign called for an immediate moratorium on new data center projects until the legislature can adopt protections and give communities more input on siting and incentives. She urged Abbott to use an executive order and convene a special session to halt tax incentives for the industry. Her proposal targets new data center approvals; it does not call for a blanket ban on bitcoin mining or forced closures of existing facilities. That stance amplifies existing uncertainty in Texas, where Abbott had already tightened rules earlier this year. In a Sept. 21 directive, his office instructed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to pause new data-center permits pending audits, pushed projects to shoulder electrical infrastructure costs, required reporting of electricity and water use, and sought to prevent use of water resources needed by local communities. Abbott also signaled he would work with lawmakers to end financial incentives for data centers in the next legislative session. Cipher’s recent fundamentals add context to investor worries. In its Nov. 2 earnings release the company reported $26.7 million in quarterly revenue, including $5.852 million from its first high-performance computing lease payments at Black Pearl. Bitcoin-mining revenue fell to $20.849 million from $71.707 million a year earlier. Cipher posted a $71.9 million operating loss, but a $127.2 million warrant valuation gain produced net income of $31.6 million. On the development front, Cipher said it has a conditional base load classification for 1 GW at Colchis via ERCOT’s Batch Zero process, plus another 1.6 GW with conditional studied load classifications and provisional controllable load designations. The company reported a 20-year Barber Lake lease with contracted revenue of roughly $9.1 billion and said construction remains on schedule under an amended agreement. Cipher’s pipeline is listed at 5.9 GW, and the company has begun developing natural gas pipelines to support up to 2.5 GW of potential on-site generation. The broader sector is seeing big deals too: Riot’s SEC presentation disclosed a 15-year powered land lease for its Corsicana campus with an unnamed “leading frontier AI lab.” The arrangement covers 910 MW of critical IT capacity, an initial contract value of about $28 billion, and estimated average annual rent of $1.8 billion (including escalators). Riot will deliver land, powered pads and electrical infrastructure; the tenant supplies and operates compute modules and bears utility and operating costs. Riot projects total capital needs of $5.5 billion and a delivery cadence of 400 MW by September 2027, 200 MW by January 2028 and the remaining 310 MW by July 2028, with rent starting as each pad is delivered (subject to a 60-day potential delay if modules aren’t installed). Bottom line: Hinojosa’s proposed moratorium has rattled investors in data-center and crypto-mining names, and the move adds fresh regulatory risk to an industry already navigating tighter permit scrutiny and shifting economics. Expect heightened volatility for stocks with Texas exposure as the political and policy landscape evolves. Read more AI-generated news on: https://app.chaingpt.org/news