Bitcoin miners are pivoting to new markets and making bank

With a pivot to providing high-performance computing, miners are finding new ways to broaden their revenue stream

article-image

GreenBelka/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Avi Felman says he’s bullish on bitcoin miners, but not strictly because of bitcoin’s potential.

With a pivot to providing high-performance computing, or HPC, companies are finding new ways to broaden their revenue stream beyond ASIC mining.

Hut 8, best known as a bitcoin mining company with facilities in Alberta, Canada and Texas, is a great example, he says. Thanks to its high capacity computing infrastructure, Hut 8 recently signed a contract to provide HPC for clients in Canada’s health sector.

On a recent 1000X podcast (Spotify/Apple), the head of digital asset trading at GoldenTree talks to Cumberland’s Global Head of Trading Jonah Van Bourg about the broadening revenue strategy.

It’s not about the hardware

With the growing potential for more cash flow, one might expect mining companies to pack up their ASICs for greener pastures, leaving the precarious business of crypto mining and its knife-edge profit margins behind.

But it’s not about the chips, Felman says, “it’s a completely different business.”

It’s more about access to the facilities and the people who know the business, Felman says. Cooling, for example, is important in any high capacity computing environment, he says. “In both bitcoin mining and HPC, they have all of that set up.”

“They have the people that know how to build out those services. They have the warehouses and the facilities. They have the power contracts.”

Read more: Do you bleed enough BTC to pay $55 for Brooklyn’s bitcoin spa?

The actual product that is provided to clients, Felman explains, “is radically different and requires a decent amount of upfront investment. But the overall operations are very similar,” he says.

Large-scale mining companies like Hut 8, Iris Energy, Hive and Cipher can repurpose facilities to provide HPC, diversifying the business and generating more revenue, Felman says. “It seems like there’s a tremendous amount of demand.”

A healthier bitcoin market, to boot

Felman clarifies that current ASIC hardware — highly specialized computers designed strictly for bitcoin mining — can not be diverted for the purpose of providing HPC to clients. But the diversification of services provided through their infrastructure and know-how could enable mining companies to be financially “healthier,” he says.

The move could also benefit the market price of bitcoin (BTC), he argues, because miners may be less pressured to sell in fearful markets. The need for mining companies to sell their fresh bitcoin on a regular basis just to survive acts as a constant damper on prices.

“Miners will get liquidated less often as they become better and more robust businesses.” 

Van Bourg adds, “it would make the market healthier, for sure.”

“It would also tell the world,” he says, “crypto has provided a series of infrastructure plays that are relevant outside of just crypto.”

The move indicates the presence of a growing market for “purpose-specific computation facilities,” Van Bourg says. Bitcoin mining technology, he says, “laid the rails for other applications” that can now harness the technology in new ways.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (19).png

Research

Suilend has grown into the top money market and liquid staking provider on Sui. STEAMM, Suilend’s Superfluid AMM, presents a compelling avenue for growing market share within Sui’s DEX landscape and revenue generation for the protocol. Suilend’s multi-product suite position it well for owning market share across key verticals. While current metrics across the Sui ecosystem are likely inflated due to Sui Foundation incentive programs, SEND trades at amongst the lowest multiples in the lend/borrow sector, suggesting that a bull case for continued growth in the ecosystem may be mispriced.

article-image

Kraken will soon offer Backed ‘xStocks’ as Solana tokens

article-image

In a unanimous decision, the US Court of International Trade has ruled that Trump’s IEEPA tariffs are unlawful

article-image

The platform has over $22 million in assets and allows anyone to invest in tokenized real estate

article-image

Crypto games can face financial losses if they don’t take steps to squash bot accounts

article-image

Strive board member Ben Werkman expects thousands of firms to hold BTC, if only “to protect themselves”

article-image

To date, 12.6 million humans have scanned at a World Orb