Биткоин-майнеры увеличивают долговую нагрузку на фоне снижения доходности Translation: Bitcoin miners increase debt burden amid declining profitability

Over the course of a year, the total debt of Bitcoin miners surged sixfold, increasing from $2.1 billion to $12.7 billion. Analysts at VanEck attributed this rise to the concurrent necessity of investing in mining hardware and fulfilling orders in the artificial intelligence sector.

Nathan Frakowitz and Matthew Sigel explained that the share of miners in global hashrate diminishes without ongoing investments in modern cryptocurrency mining devices. This decline leads to reduced rewards for miners.

Traditionally, they funded capital expenditures by issuing shares, but now there is a notable shift towards leveraging debt instruments.

According to The Miner Mag, the combined liabilities of 25 publicly traded mining companies reached $4.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, dipped to $200 million at the beginning of 2025, and rose again to $1.5 billion in the second quarter.

The most recent Bitcoin halving occurred in April 2024, cutting the reward for mined blocks in the Bitcoin network to 3.125 BTC.

In September of this year, the profitability of mining the first cryptocurrency fell by over 7%. Against this backdrop, miners began to diversify their operations.

Primarily, companies pivoted their energy capabilities towards artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. One of the largest deals was the acquisition of mining center operator Core Scientific by AI hyperscaler CoreWeave for $9 billion in July.

In August, Google increased its stake in TeraWulf to 14% by expanding financial guarantees to $3.2 billion. In September, the mining firm announced it had secured $3 billion for the construction of data centers, with the assistance of Morgan Stanley.

Previously, IREN also invested in AI computing, with a transaction amounting to $193 million.

Nonetheless, VanEck is confident that miners’ shift towards AI will not jeopardize the security of the largest cryptocurrency’s blockchain. According to Frakowitz and Sigel, «the prioritized consumption of electricity for artificial intelligence ultimately benefits Bitcoin.»

«Mining digital gold remains a straightforward way to quickly monetize surplus electricity in remote or developing markets, effectively subsidizing the development of data centers that are initially designed with the capacity to convert for AI and HPC needs,» they added.

The demand for artificial intelligence computing also exhibits cyclical patterns throughout the day and is influenced by human activity. This results in a natural balance between the two sectors, the experts concluded.

It is worth noting that ASIC miner manufacturer Canaan has introduced an eco-friendly solution for Bitcoin mining.