Bitcoin miner Bitdeer wipes out BTC treasury as it pivots deeper into AI and data centers
Bitcoin mining company Bitdeer has completely exited its corporate Bitcoin holdings, bringing its own BTC balance down to zero in a move that stands out in an industry where most miners prefer to keep at least some exposure to the asset they secure.
According to the firm’s latest operational update, Bitdeer reported that its “pure holdings” – a term it uses for Bitcoin owned by the company and not tied to customer deposits – have dropped to 0 BTC. During the most recent reporting period, the company mined 189.8 BTC and sold the entire amount on the market. On top of that, it liquidated an additional 943.1 BTC from its treasury, effectively clearing out all previously held reserves.
This marks a sharp change from the company’s earlier stance just weeks before. In an update dated February 13, Bitdeer still held exactly 943.1 BTC on its balance sheet. At that time, the miner sold 179.9 BTC from the 183.4 BTC it had newly produced, but chose not to touch its existing treasury stack. The latest report shows that this posture has shifted decisively toward full monetization of both ongoing production and historic reserves.
In the mining sector, it is standard practice to regularly sell some, and sometimes most, of the BTC that miners generate. These sales typically cover operating expenses such as energy costs, hosting fees, maintenance, and capital expenditures for hardware upgrades. However, many large mining firms make a deliberate choice to retain part of their production or hold a separate Bitcoin treasury as a strategic asset and a bet on long‑term price appreciation. By contrast, fully liquidating a previously built-up BTC reserve is far less common and often interpreted as a signal of balance-sheet repositioning or a change in strategic priorities.
The decision comes at a time when Bitdeer is simultaneously restructuring its capital base. The company recently revealed plans to raise 300 million dollars via a convertible senior notes offering, with the option to increase the issuance by an additional 45 million dollars. These notes, maturing in 2032, may later be converted into equity, cash, or a combination of both, depending on market conditions and the company’s financial strategy at the time of conversion. The announcement was followed by a notable drop in Bitdeer’s share price, reflecting investor uncertainty around dilution risk and the timing of the raise.
Bitdeer, established by Jihan Wu, who previously co‑founded major mining hardware manufacturer Bitmain, has outlined an ambitious use of proceeds from the convertible debt. The company intends to channel the capital into expanding its data center footprint, scaling its AI-focused cloud services, advancing in‑house mining hardware development, and meeting broader corporate needs. This roadmap places Bitdeer among a growing group of miners diversifying into adjacent high-performance computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Another notable shift in the company’s operations is its increasing reliance on self‑mining. While Bitdeer has historically both sold mining equipment and managed hosting services for clients, demand for new mining rigs has softened amid compressed margins following the 2024 Bitcoin halving and persistent pressure on hashprice – the revenue miners earn per unit of computing power. In response, Bitdeer is dedicating more of its own hardware fleet to proprietary mining rather than relying on equipment sales as a primary revenue source.
The firm’s move needs to be understood within a broader realignment across the Bitcoin mining industry. With the latest block subsidy halving cutting rewards and electricity costs remaining elevated in many jurisdictions, revenue per terahash has tightened significantly. To defend profitability and make better use of existing power and infrastructure, multiple miners are pursuing hybrid models that blend traditional Bitcoin mining with AI workloads and high-performance computing services.
Recent strategic moves by other players highlight the speed of this transition. A separate company, MARA Holdings, acquired a controlling stake in French computing infrastructure provider Exaion, gaining 64% ownership while the energy firm EDF stayed on as a minority shareholder and client. This deal pushes MARA deeper into AI and cloud computing and underscores how miners are repositioning themselves as broader digital infrastructure providers rather than being solely tied to Bitcoin block rewards.
Several well-known miners, including HIVE, Hut 8, TeraWulf and IREN, are retooling their facilities to serve data-center customers. Existing mining sites often have access to low‑cost or stranded energy, robust power delivery infrastructure, and cooling systems – all of which can be repurposed for AI clusters and high‑density computing. At the same time, companies such as CoreWeave have effectively evolved from mining backgrounds into full‑scale AI infrastructure operators, showing one possible endgame for this transformation.
Bitdeer’s complete disposal of Bitcoin reserves, therefore, may be less about abandoning belief in BTC and more about reallocating capital to growth segments with clearer near-term cash flows. Building or upgrading data centers, purchasing specialized GPUs, and developing AI cloud platforms requires substantial upfront investment. Selling both newly mined coins and treasury holdings frees immediate liquidity without needing to wait for potentially volatile price appreciation in the spot Bitcoin market.
From a risk management perspective, ditching the corporate BTC stack reduces exposure to Bitcoin’s price swings at a time when the firm is taking on additional financial leverage via convertible notes. For creditors and some equity investors, a cleaner, more predictable balance sheet – with less volatility from mark‑to‑market BTC holdings – can appear more attractive, particularly when the company is pitching a multi‑year expansion strategy. However, this also means Bitdeer will not directly benefit from any upside in Bitcoin’s price through a corporate treasury position, which could be seen as a missed opportunity if a strong bull market unfolds.
Industry observers often debate the optimal treasury strategy for miners. Holding significant BTC reserves can magnify gains during bullish phases but equally intensifies financial stress when prices decline, especially if the company already operates with thin margins. In contrast, a lean treasury and aggressive coin sales improve liquidity and reduce drawdowns during downturns, at the cost of giving up some of the asymmetric upside that long‑term holders seek. Bitdeer appears to be shifting firmly toward the second model.
Another layer to this strategic shift is regulatory and macroeconomic uncertainty. As energy markets remain volatile and regulatory scrutiny of large-scale energy users increases, miners that can present themselves as diversified technology and infrastructure companies – rather than pure crypto plays – may enjoy a more favorable perception from regulators, partners and traditional investors. Expanding into AI and cloud services allows miners like Bitdeer to frame their business as supporting broader digital transformation and computational demand rather than solely crypto speculation.
At the same time, AI infrastructure is not a risk‑free refuge. Competition for high‑end chips, especially GPUs optimized for large-scale machine learning, is fierce, and the cost of securing long‑term hardware supply can be significant. Data-center buildouts often require heavy capital expenditure, long lead times, and complex relationships with energy providers and local authorities. As miners migrate into this space, they will encounter established hyperscalers and specialized AI infrastructure firms with deep pockets and existing client bases.
For Bitcoin network dynamics, moves like Bitdeer’s may have nuanced effects. A miner that no longer accumulates BTC and instead systematically sells production contributes to a more consistent flow of coins onto the market, potentially adding mild ongoing sell pressure. Yet, as more miners diversify revenue streams and reduce dependency on block rewards, they may become more resilient to downturns in Bitcoin’s price, lowering the risk of sudden hash rate drops and improving the stability of the overall network over the long term.
Bitdeer’s treasury liquidation also raises questions for investors about how they should value public mining companies. When miners hold meaningful Bitcoin reserves, their equity often trades with a leveraged correlation to BTC’s price, blending characteristics of both a mining operation and a quasi‑holding company. By contrast, a miner with no BTC on the balance sheet and a clear expansion path into AI and data centers begins to resemble a traditional infrastructure or cloud services stock, with cash flows more tied to contracts, compute demand and operational efficiency than to pure crypto price action.
For now, Bitdeer’s actions show a company making a decisive bet: using a clean treasury slate and fresh capital from convertible debt to chase growth in high‑performance computing and AI, while continuing to mine Bitcoin but without treating it as a long-term treasury asset. Whether this strategy will outperform the classic “mine and hold” model many competitors still embrace will depend on how both Bitcoin and the AI infrastructure market evolve over the coming years.