Hut 8 signs $9.8 billion AI data center lease in Texas as Bitcoin miner pivots to hyperscale

Hut 8 Secures Historic Data Center Lease Worth $9.8 Billion

Hut 8 announced on Wednesday that it has signed a 15-year lease worth $9.8 billion for the first phase of its Beacon Point data center campus in Nueces County, Texas 1

1

. The agreement covers 352 megawatts of capacity with a confidential, high-investment-grade tenant that plans to deploy dedicated compute infrastructure to support AI training and inference workloads at hyperscale 3

3

. The deal represents one of the largest individual data center leases announced this year and reflects surging demand for AI computing infrastructure across the industry.

The lease is structured as a triple-net agreement with annual rent increases and includes three five-year renewal options that could push the total contract value to approximately $25.1 billion if exercised 1

1

. "We have a 15-year obligation from a high-investment-grade counterparty and the contract is structured on a take-or-pay, triple-net basis with no termination for convenience," Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot told Reuters 1

1

. The triple-net structure means the tenant pays operating expenses, taxes, and insurance in addition to base rent, allowing Hut 8 to capture cash flow without absorbing operating cost variability 2

2

.

Stock Surge Reflects Market Confidence in AI Pivot from Bitcoin Mining

Shares of the Miami, Florida-based AI data center developer jumped more than 30% in trading, reaching an all-time high of $109.88 3

3

. The stock recently changed hands around $107, representing a 33% rise from Tuesday's closing price, with Hut 8's share price more than doubling in the last month alone 3

3

. Investors appeared to disregard Hut 8's reported first quarter 2026 net loss of more than $253 million, which the company attributed to a reduction in the market value of its Bitcoin holdings 4

4

.

The market reaction demonstrates that investors are increasingly rewarding crypto-linked infrastructure names that can convert power access into long-duration AI data center revenue 5

5

. The rally suggests the Street is focused less on legacy mining volatility and more on contracted capacity, hyperscale tenant commitments, and the economics of AI infrastructure buildouts 5

5

.

Beacon Point Data Center Expands Hut 8's AI Infrastructure Portfolio

The Beacon Point lease brings Hut 8's total contracted AI data center capacity to 597 MW across two campuses, with aggregate base-term contract value rising to approximately $16.8 billion 1

1

. The deal adds to a December 2025 agreement when the company signed a 15-year, 245 MW lease at its River Bend campus worth $7 billion over the base term 2

2

. The company's compounded contracted revenue line, before any renewals are exercised, now exceeds the entire combined market capitalisation of most of its Bitcoin-mining peers 2

2

.

The Beacon Point project is part of a planned 1 gigawatt campus, with the remaining approximately 650 MW available for subsequent commercialisation 2

2

. Power is expected to be connected to the site in early 2027, with the first building scheduled for completion later that year 1

1

. The facility is being designed using Nvidia's DSX reference architecture, highlighting the chipmaker's influence in AI infrastructure 1

1

. The company redesigned the facility mid-development, enlarging an initial data hall scoped for 224 megawatts to support a 352-megawatt AI factory—a 57% increase—within the same land and utility footprint 3

3

.

Texas Emerges as Strategic Hub for AI Infrastructure Development

The geographic choice of Texas reflects a wider trend in the AI infrastructure landscape. Texas has emerged as one of the most accommodating US jurisdictions for AI infrastructure, with grid interconnection processes faster than in most coastal markets and zoning regimes more permissive than in Northern Virginia 2

2

. AEP Texas has executed an interconnection agreement for the full 1,000-megawatt campus, with initial energization expected in the first quarter of 2027 and first data hall delivery anticipated in the third quarter of that year 3

3

.

The project is being built with partners including American Electric Power, Vertiv, and Jacobs, as competition grows among companies racing to meet the computing and energy needs of AI firms 1

1

. Beyond Beacon Point, Hut 8 is pursuing a broader pipeline spanning more than 7 gigawatts of potential capacity, signaling continued expansion as demand from large tech firms increases 1

1

.

Crypto Mining Industry Faces Decisive Shift Toward High-Performance Computing

Hut 8's transformation exemplifies an industry-wide pivot away from crypto mining as public Bitcoin mining companies struggle with high costs and declining revenues 4

4

. The company's diversification into AI and energy infrastructure comes amid growing competition for electricity between the crypto mining industry and AI sectors. Mining companies can make anywhere between $57 and $129 per MW securing the blockchain, compared to between $200 and $500 per MW for AI infrastructure 4

4

.

The campus, originally planned for Bitcoin mining, was repositioned toward AI infrastructure as power demand accelerated and customer requirements broadened 3

3

. Rather than building for a predetermined customer, the company originally underwrote the Beacon Point site to serve its subsidiary, the Trump-backed American Bitcoin, before pivoting to serve hyperscale AI workloads 3

3

. Hut 8's deal extends a recent streak of Bitcoin mining firms embracing the growing AI compute opportunity, with major companies in the space signing multi-billion-dollar data center deals alongside their mining operations 3

3

. Similar momentum appeared in Cipher Digital, which signed its third AI data center campus lease with an investment-grade hyperscale tenant during the first quarter 5

5

.