Explained: What is Bitcoin mining? (6:23)
Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms (RIOT) is increasingly turning its attention to artificial intelligence, using its existing land and power infrastructure to serve AI companies.
The company joins miners such as Core Scientific, IREN and Hut 8 in expanding into AI infrastructure, where access to electricity and data center sites has become increasingly valuable.
Riot began formally evaluating AI uses for its Corsicana power capacity in January 2025. It followed with an AMD lease in January 2026 and a 191-megawatt AI agreement in August, bringing its contracted capacity to 241 MW.
Now, its latest earnings reveal how Bitcoin is helping finance that expansion.
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Riot reveals $1.5 billion in Bitcoin sales
In its Nov. 4 earnings report, Riot disclosed selling 20,264 Bitcoin worth approximately $1.5 billion during the first nine months of 2026, primarily to fund data center development.
According to TheEnergyMag, Riot sold 10,599 BTC in the third quarter alone, roughly 6.5 times the 1,637 BTC it mined.
Its Bitcoin holdings consequently fell from 11,380 BTC at the end of June to 2,418 BTC by the end of September.
Riot was selling down reserves, not just newly mined coins.
Meanwhile, quarterly revenue rose 1% to $181.4 million, although net income dropped to $4 million from $104.5 million a year earlier.
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Bitcoin mining remained its largest business, generating $116 million in revenue, down from $160.8 million a year earlier, while data centers contributed $18.4 million, including $10.2 million in tenant fit-out reimbursements.
Engineering revenue rose to $47 million from $19.1 million, helping offset the decline in mining revenue.
Riot ended September with $748.2 million in cash, including $79.2 million that was restricted, and approximately $202 million in Bitcoin.
Riot secures $28 billion AI infrastructure deal
Alongside earnings, Riot announced a 15-year lease with an unnamed AI laboratory covering 910 MW of critical IT capacity at its Corsicana, Texas, campus.
The agreement represents approximately $28 billion in total contract value over the initial term, with average annual rent of approximately $1.8 billion, including contractual increases.
"Today, we are excited to announce the largest lease in Riot's history," CEO Jason Les said.
Riot will provide land and power infrastructure while the tenant owns and operates its computing equipment and bears substantially all operating costs, including power. Rent is payable on the full 910 MW regardless of utilization.
Riot estimates the development will cost $5.5 billion, with phased delivery scheduled between September 2027 and July 2028.
Combined with existing agreements, Riot now has 1,151 MW of contracted data-center capacity and approximately $38 billion in long-term contracted revenue.
Riot Platforms stock price at press time
At the time of writing, Riot shares were trading at $16.12, up 14.98%, shortly after the market opened.
The reaction followed both the earnings release and the new AI lease, which were announced alongside the Bitcoin sales.
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