Charles Edward, founder of digital-asset hedge fund Capriole Investments, has sounded the alarm: public Bitcoin miners are rapidly pivoting into artificial intelligence (AI), a move that could reshape mining activity — and put downward pressure on Bitcoin’s price.
What’s happening
- According to Edwards, every major publicly traded Bitcoin mining firm has publicly announced plans to expand into AI services. The firms’ guidance implies a dramatic revenue mix shift: Bitcoin-derived income is expected to fall from roughly 90% today to about 30% within the next two to three years.
- Stock-market dynamics appear to be a major catalyst. Companies that signaled AI-driven business models (targeting >80% AI revenue) have seen outsized share-price rallies — Edwards says an average gain of more than 500% — while firms planning for under 60% AI exposure showed much weaker returns, with many posting negative two‑year performance.
Operational shifts and immediate risks
- Several miners are reportedly shelving plans to buy new ASIC miners and plan to run existing rigs until end-of-life, redirecting capital into AI infrastructure instead. That reallocation reduces future investment in the specialized hardware that secures the Bitcoin network.
- Edwards warns that fewer ASIC purchases and lower reinvestment in mining capacity could erode the network’s defensive computing power over time. Reduced buy-side demand from miners — many of whom are also selling BTC — may exert sustained downward pressure on price.
Bigger-picture threats and how this capitulation differs
- Edwards also highlighted longer-term threats such as quantum computing, which could challenge Bitcoin’s cryptographic defenses unless protocol changes are adopted.
- He argues this shift is not a typical miner capitulation. Past exits usually involved roughly 20%–30% of miners, but now publicly listed miners collectively valued at more than $100 billion are signalling a strategic move away from crypto — a sign Edwards interprets as a lack of confidence among industry leaders in Bitcoin’s long-term price outlook.
Data points on the sell-off and mining economics
- Research firm TheEnergyMag reported that public miners are liquidating Bitcoin at a pace not seen since the final stages of the last bear market. The sell-off is being driven by a prolonged decline in mining revenue and deteriorating economics as operators transition to AI.
- Hashprice — a common metric tracking miner revenue per unit of hashpower — plunged to near all‑time lows around $33 per PH/s, squeezing profitability. The 2024 halving (which cut block rewards) and materially higher network difficulty compared with 2021 have further compressed miners’ earnings.
- TheEnergyMag’s data show major public miners including Marathon (MARA), Riot, Congo, CleanSpark and Bitdeer collectively sold more than 32,000 BTC in Q1 2026 — a volume that surpasses total net sales across all four quarters of 2025 and sets a new industry record.
Bottom line
The convergence of weak mining economics, market incentives for AI growth, and large-scale BTC selling by public miners presents a new and potentially destabilizing chapter for the mining sector. If capital permanently reflows from ASIC infrastructure into AI and accumulation by miners dwindles, the result could be weaker network investment and additional price pressure on Bitcoin unless other demand sources fill the gap.
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