What to know:

  • Shares of bitcoin miner Hut 8 (HUT) jumped nearly 12% in pre-market trading.
  • Speculation on social media platform X links a data center the company is building in Louisiana with Facebook owner Meta Platforms.
  • Neither Hut 8 nor Meta has announced a partnership.

As an analyst with over two decades of experience in the tech and crypto industries, I have learned to take social media speculation with a grain of salt, but this latest buzz around Hut 8 (HUT) and Meta Platforms (META) has piqued my interest. The potential partnership between these two titans could indeed be groundbreaking, given their shared focus on high-performance computing and data centers.

Prior to market hours, the stocks of Bitcoin miner Hut 8 (HUT) surged approximately 12%, fueled by conjecture on social media platforms suggesting they are constructing a data center in partnership with Meta Platforms Inc. (Meta’s ticker symbol is META).

The shares climbed to just under $30 as of 10:00 UTC. The CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI), which offers broad exposure to the BTC mining sector, rose about 3% higher.

Neither Miami, Fla.-based Hut nor Menlo Park, Calif.-based Meta has announced a partnership.

It seems that Hut 8 might be teaming up with Meta to establish an innovative AI data center in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Although it hasn’t been officially announced yet, the size and scope of the project suggest a strong possibility of this partnership. The estimated cost of $12…

— Jarron Jackson (@JarronJackson4) December 11, 2024

According to local news sources, company Hut 8 is planning to construct a data center with an estimated opening price tag of $12 billion, located in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.

Recently, according to reports from Reuters, Meta announced its intention to construct an AI data center worth approximately $10 billion in Richland Parish, Louisiana.

It’s true that both Bitcoin miners and AI data centers share some common needs, such as specialized hardware, processing power, and energy consumption. In an interesting twist, certain Bitcoin miners are now investing in AI computations to expand their income sources.

Previously, Hut 8 disclosed plans for a $500 million Offering Through Shelf Registration (ATS) and a $250 million Share Buyback Program. They mentioned mining 94 Bitcoins in November, which represents a 6% decrease compared to the previous month. Currently, they hold 9,122 Bitcoins (valued at approximately $921 million), making them the seventh-largest publicly traded company with Bitcoin reserves.

Neither company immediately responded to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

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2024-12-12 13:54