Bitcoin miner IREN meets halving risk with $40 million AI play
While the price of Bitcoin is tipped to strengthen further this cycle, the former Iris Energy is already preparing for the next crypto winter by diversifying with a $40 million AI bet.
The next year is uncertain for Bitcoin miners. “The halving”, which took place April 20, means the amount of new Bitcoin created each day has been cut by 50%. The theory goes that the inevitable supply crunch this creates will spike the cryptocurrency’s price, making up for the smaller number of Bitcoin collected.
But if that will actually happen is anyone’s guess – much less when or what the actual price impact will be.
Sydney-based IREN, formerly Iris Energy, is in a better position than most of its fellow miners to ride the Bitcoin wave. The company, which listed on the NASDAQ in 2021, has this year spent about $40 million on 800 Nvidia H100 GPUs specifically targeting AI developers, creating a revenue stream discrete from crypto. Its data centres now double as Bitcoin miners and AI development accelerators.
“You can look at our IPO documents in 2021, AI has always been there,” CEO Daniel Roberts said, rejecting the idea that the investment is merely an example of his company following trends.
