Bitfarms (BITF) Stock Plummets as Miner Abandons Bitcoin for AI

TLDR

• Bitfarms stock plummeted 18% to $2.60 after revealing plans to completely exit Bitcoin mining by 2027 and transition to AI infrastructure.
• The company reported a $46 million Q3 loss, double the previous year’s loss, with revenue missing analyst forecasts by over 16%.
• CEO Ben Gagnon stated the Washington facility conversion to AI could generate more income than all previous Bitcoin mining operations combined.
• The move follows industry trends as Bitcoin mining shifts to lower-cost regions while US miners pivot to more profitable AI and high-performance computing.
• Shares have dropped 51% in the past month as Bitfarms becomes the first major miner to announce a complete exit from Bitcoin operations.

Bitfarms took a beating on Thursday as shares crashed 18% following news the company will completely abandon Bitcoin mining. The stock settled at $2.60 and kept sliding after hours to $2.51.

Bitfarms Ltd., BITF

The company plans to convert every Bitcoin mining site to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing over the next two years. The Washington state facility will lead the charge with completion expected by December 2026.

This 18-megawatt site represents less than 1% of Bitfarms’ total portfolio. Yet CEO Ben Gagnon believes it could outperform the company’s entire Bitcoin mining history once converted to GPU-as-a-Service operations.

The timing coincides with brutal Q3 earnings. Bitfarms reported a $46 million net loss, doubling last year’s $24 million loss. The 8-cent per share loss crushed analyst expectations of just 2 cents.

Revenue jumped 156% year-over-year to $69 million but still fell short of estimates by more than 16%. The company mined 520 BTC at $48,200 each and held 1,827 BTC as of Wednesday.

Why US Miners Are Fleeing Bitcoin

Gagnon laid out the harsh reality for American Bitcoin miners on the earnings call. Rising mining difficulty and costs are pushing operations overseas to cheaper locations.

Public miners now control roughly a third of the Bitcoin network. Most are eyeing moves to higher-margin HPC and AI businesses as profitability shrinks.

Bitcoin mining is expanding rapidly in the Middle East, Africa and Russia. These regions offer lower costs that US operations can’t match.

The CEO said moving Bitfarms’ mining operations to cheaper markets made little sense. The company sees better returns converting existing infrastructure to AI services.

Following the Money to AI

Bitfarms isn’t alone in chasing AI dollars. Bitcoin miner IREN locked down a massive $9.7 billion deal with Microsoft earlier this month to provide AI computing power.

MARA also announced AI expansion plans last week while posting record revenues. But Bitfarms stands out as the first major player planning a total Bitcoin exit.

The company operates 12 data centers across North America with 341 megawatts of capacity. A $300 million debt facility secured in October will fund the Panther Creek, Pennsylvania site conversion.

The Washington facility will feature Nvidia GB300 chips with state-of-the-art liquid cooling technology. Bitfarms has 341 megawatts of total energy capacity available for conversion.

Shares have tanked 51% over the past month as cryptocurrency markets weakened. Bitcoin dropped nearly 3% in 24 hours to around $99,441 on Thursday.

Bitfarms will complete its wind-down of Bitcoin mining operations throughout 2026 and 2027.

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