TL;DR

Riot Platforms sold 1,818 Bitcoin for $161.6M in December, shifting focus to AI and data-center infrastructure over pure mining.
The company holds 18,005 BTC and will switch to quarterly reports, prioritizing business performance over monthly mining stats.
Miners are pivoting to AI compute to secure stable revenue after the Bitcoin halving reduced block rewards.

Riot Platforms closed December with a sale of 1,818 Bitcoin for $161.6 million, at an average net price of $88,870 per coin. The company prioritizes monetizing power and data-center infrastructure—especially AI workloads—over pure BTC output.

As of December 31, Riot reports 18,005 BTC on balance, including 3,977 BTC pledged as collateral, and produced 460 BTC during the month. Management will end monthly operating updates and move to quarterly reports focused on overall business performance, progress on the data-center plan, and Bitcoin mining. In October, leadership signaled that mining no longer serves as the end goal, but as one pillar within a broader energy-and-compute agenda.

AI and energy: why miners look beyond BTC

The April 2024 halving cut block rewards and raised unit costs, so multiple miners redirect electric capacity and white space toward high-performance compute. The appeal is clear: multi-year GPU-cloud contracts, steadier cash flow, and better use of sunk capex in power and cooling.

Riot outlines a 1-gigawatt AI campus, a scale point suited for long-duration deals. Operators of energy-dense sites already manage interconnections, power procurement, and 24/7 operations. Converting the existing base into computing revenue diversifies income and reduces cyclicality tied to BTC.

By selling BTC into strength or during consolidation, the firm funds construction, equipment, and GPU racks without heavy leverage. A 18,005 BTC position preserves exposure while serving as a financial cushion for capex peaks or low-liquidity windows.

Equity holders prize cash-flow visibility and execution

A pivot to quarterly disclosure aims to measure the business by segment: physical progress across the campus, utilization, committed capex, power costs, and mining metrics. The breakdown supports comparisons with hyperscalers and crypto peers offering AI colocation.

Key markers for 2026 include firm GPU-capacity contracts, entry-into-service dates for new halls, mix between mining and services, and discipline on energy costs. If the company secures high utilization and keeps a resilient treasury—with BTC as a tactical asset—the narrative relies less on spot price and more on durable data-center cash flows.

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Filed under: News - @ January 7, 2026 9:25 pm