Investors Are Fighting Over Bitcoin Miners Like It’s Black Friday! 🤑

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What to know:

  • D.E. Shaw has taken an unspecified stake in Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms, Reuters reported. Because why not? Everyone loves a good stake!
  • The move comes after another activist investor, Starboard, took a stake in the RIOT last year, attempting to push the company towards AI/HPC computing. Because who doesn’t want their bitcoin mining to be more… intelligent?

So, here we are: Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms (RIOT) is now the belle of the ball, with a second activist investor, D.E. Shaw, swooping in like a hawk on a fresh piece of roadkill. 🦅 According to Reuters, they’ve taken an unspecified stake, which is basically investor-speak for “we’re in, but we’re not telling you how much.”

Now, D.E. Shaw is managing a whopping $70 billion in assets. That’s right, billion with a “B.” Meanwhile, Starboard Value, the first activist investor to crash this party, is sitting pretty with about $9 billion. It’s like a high-stakes poker game, but instead of chips, they’re betting on the future of bitcoin mining. 🎲

Last year, Starboard was all about pushing Riot to transform its mining sites into data centers for high-performance computing (HPC). Because nothing says “I love bitcoin” like turning it into a glorified server farm. Who knew mining could be so… versatile?

Now, Reuters didn’t spill the tea on whether D.E. Shaw will be pulling similar stunts, but they do have a reputation for being the quiet type—like the kid in class who never raises their hand but somehow always gets an A. 📚

Earlier this month, Riot announced they’re officially evaluating how to use their remaining 600 megawatts (MW) of power capacity for AI and HPC. Because if you can’t mine bitcoin, you might as well power the next Skynet, right?

But hold onto your wallets, folks! The bitcoin mining industry is feeling the heat after the recent halving, which basically turned profitability into a unicorn—hard to find and even harder to catch. 🦄 Some miners are scrambling to diversify their revenue streams like they’re at a buffet and can’t decide between the salad and the fried chicken.

Investor excitement was palpable when Riot’s peer, Core Scientific (CORZ), signed a multi-billion dollar deal with a hyperscaler. But that joy was short-lived, thanks to China’s DeepSeek, which apparently only needs a fraction of the computing power that U.S. AI companies thought they required. Talk about a plot twist! 📉

As for the numbers, CORZ is down about 30% since Monday, while RIOT is down 18% over the same period. But hey, at least they’re flat year-over-year! 🎉 And today, shares are up a whole 1%. So, you know, party time!

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2025-01-29 19:58