Stock prices of various Bitcoin mining companies surged on Monday, driven by a resurgence in cryptocurrency values and optimism regarding U.S.-China trade relations. Canaan Technologies experienced a notable 28% increase by mid-afternoon, while CleanSpark posted a 4.5% rise following its announcement to shift resources from Bitcoin mining to high-performance computing focused on artificial intelligence (AI).
CleanSpark’s strategic pivot reflects a trend among miners seeking to diversify into AI, a sector that presents promising growth opportunities. The company also disclosed the hiring of Jeffrey Thomas as the senior vice president of AI data centers. Thomas brings significant experience, having previously served as the president of AI data centers at Humain, where he led a multi-billion dollar AI initiative in Saudi Arabia.
Other Bitcoin-related stocks also saw gains, with Riot Platforms climbing 10% and Cipher Mining nearly 6%. The increase in stock prices coincided with a positive shift in Bitcoin’s market performance, which was trading at approximately $110,368, marking a 1.6% rise over the last 24 hours—although it remained down 3.6% for the week. This price movement follows a challenging week for risk assets amid escalating U.S.-China trade tensions, which saw investors liquidate over $19 billion in leveraged crypto futures positions. President Donald Trump’s announcement of an upcoming meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping has contributed to renewed investor optimism.
CleanSpark recently secured a $100 million credit line from Coinbase Prime, aimed at bolstering its liquidity as it navigates the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency mining. The financing, secured against the company’s Bitcoin holdings, is intended to support energy expansion, mining growth, and AI projects. In recent months, many Bitcoin miners have been grappling with increasing operational costs and diminishing rewards. The halving event last year reduced Bitcoin rewards from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC per verified block, prompting several miners to explore alternative revenue streams through high-performance computing for AI.
Despite Canaan’s year-to-date share price having declined over 10%, both CleanSpark and Riot Platforms have seen net increases exceeding 110%, highlighting a shift in the focus of the mining sector. The growing interest in AI from tech giants like Google, which recently formalized a deal involving the AI compute firm Fluidstack and Cipher Mining, suggests that this transition may gain traction in the coming months. However, experts caution that while high-performance computing offers attractive opportunities, it is not without its challenges.
