Core Scientific Pays $41.9 Million to Terminate Block Bitcoin Mining Contract, Shifts Focus to AI Infrastructure

Odaily reported that data center operator Core Scientific disclosed in its second-quarter regulatory filing that it paid $41.9 million to terminate the Bitcoin mining machine contract with Block and its Proto division, with related losses amounting to $41.9 million. Both the agreement and future equipment deliveries have been canceled.



The agreement, announced in July 2024, originally called for Proto to supply 3nm mining chips, corresponding to approximately 15 EH/s in hashrate, and included options for additional purchases. Core Scientific stated that it will no longer invest in new mining machines to maintain or expand hashrate, will generate cash flow from existing mining machines, and will sell or retire machines as appropriate.



Core Scientific's second-quarter hosting revenue increased from $10.6 million in the same period last year to $137 million, accounting for 83% of total revenue; self-mining revenue fell 66% year-over-year to $21.5 million, representing 13% of total revenue. The company stated that quarterly Bitcoin production decreased by 53% year-over-year, and it continues to shift power from mining equipment to high-density computing systems such as GPUs.