VanEck: Bitcoin Miners Sitting on a "Gold Mine," Transition to AI Infrastructure Presents Investment Opportunities

Odaily News VanEck's Head of Digital Assets Research, Matthew Sigel, stated in an interview with CNBC that Bitcoin mining stocks are among the most attractive investments in the crypto space. Miners are actively shifting Bitcoin hashrate to serve the AI market, but compared to other data center peers, their market capitalization-to-megawatt ratio still shows a significant discount. Sigel pointed out that after decades of under-supply, the power grid is now facing multiple demand shocks, and miners realized earlier the capital return value achievable through transformation. Core Scientific recently stated plans to sell most of its Bitcoin holdings this year to fund the expansion of its AI and high-performance computing business. Riot Platforms CEO Jason Les also said that 2025 is a watershed moment for the company's strategic transformation, aiming to enhance shareholder value by dedicating nearly 2 gigawatts of power resources to high-demand data center infrastructure. Over the past 12 months, Core Scientific's stock price has risen 90%, Riot's has risen 91%, while MARA Holdings has fallen 35% due to higher mining costs and declining block production. Sigel also mentioned that VanEck's NODE ETF has risen over 30% since its launch last May, with net assets reaching $56 million.