Bitcoin miner IREN (IREN) rose nearly 30% on Wednesday after executives said the company had received interest from an artificial intelligence (AI) firm and mentioned a potential dividend in BTC during an earnings conference call.
The Sydney-based company has been approached by a hyperscaler firm (large cloud service provider) for potentially hosting computing infrastructure at IREN’s Sweetwater mining site in Texas, co-CEO and co-founder Daniel Roberts said on the call.
“Two hours ago, we got an email from a trillion-dollar hyperscaler that said they weren’t interested in Sweetwater, and now they are,” Roberts said without giving out too many details.
“We will continue not to provide guidance on specific terms or timing, given the uncertainties. Given the nature that we are dealing with counterparties, it is not all within our control. However, we continue to progress negotiations with some very large counterparties and hyperscalers,” he said.
IREN is one of many miners attempting to diversify their revenue sources by securely hosting big tech companies’ data centers for running machines to support surging demand for AI and high-performance computing (HPC). The shift started earlier this year after Bitcoin’s fourth halving cut rewards by 50%, squeezing miners’ profit margins. Rival Core Scientific (CORZ) <a href=”https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/10/23/bitcoin-miners-are-pivoting-to-ai-to-survive-core-scientific-entered-the-race-years-ago” target=”_blank”>started the trend</a> by signing AI hosting deals for billions of dollars, leading to its stock price surging and others to follow suit.
Read more: <a href=”https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/10/08/bitcoin-miners-at-a-crossroads-gain-market-share-or-go-all-in-on-ai” target=”_blank”>Bitcoin Miners at a Crossroads: Gain Market Share or Go All-In on AI?</a>
The mining company, formerly known as Iris Energy, <a href=”https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/07/16/2913742/0/en/IREN-appoints-Morgan-Stanley-as-Financial-Advisor.html” target=”_blank”>appointed</a> Morgan Stanley in July to potentially monetize its mining facilities for the AI data center market. Its share price, however, languished most of this year and underperformed peers after a <a href=”https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/07/12/iris-energy-has-committed-most-of-childress-site-to-expansion-of-bitcoin-mining-bernstein/?_gl=1*uu3ao5*_up*MQ..*_ga*MjEzNTI4NTIyNi4xNzMyNzIyOTk2*_ga_VM3STRYVN8*MTczMjcyMjk5NS4xLjAuMTczMjcyMjk5NS4wLjAuMTE4NDk0Mjg1Mg..” target=”_blank”>short seller</a> said one of its sites wasn’t suitable for that type of work.
Comments from the conference call might have changed market perception as the stock outperformed on Wednesday.
‘Powerful’ cashflow
Executives also said bitcoin’s surge to near-record highs may enable the company to pay a dividend.
“The achievement of positive operating cash flows may support a potential for investor distribution in calendar year 2025,” CFO Belinda Nucifora said.
The move would likely be seen as positive by the market, as many investors are looking to gain exposure to the surging bitcoin price. Aside from spot buying, traders are also looking to buy into the bull market through either exchange-traded funds or publicly traded firms such as MicroStrategy (MSTR) and MARA Holdings (MARA) that are purchasing bitcoin.
With IREN mining bitcoin at a significantly lower cost of about $29,000 compared with the market price of around $96,000, co-CEO Roberts said the company has opportunities to accumulate BTC at discounted prices, as opposed to other companies that pay spot prices.
“When you look at the market today and you see a number of different companies accumulating bitcoin on their balance sheet, paying market price or close,” Roberts said. “I think the opportunity to generate $29,000-cash-cost bitcoin for investors and effectively distribute that coin out either through the physical coin … or as cash flow is pretty powerful,” he added.
Read more: <a href=”https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/07/24/iris-energy-is-positioned-to-become-one-of-the-biggest-listed-bitcoin-miners-canaccord” target=”_blank”>Iren Is Positioned to Become One of the Biggest Listed Bitcoin Miners: Canaccord</a>
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