Microsoft invests 9.7 billion dollars in IREN.

Microsoft Takes the Reins with IREN

Microsoft represents a significant transformation in the cryptocurrency mining sector with its approximately $9.7 billion deal with IREN. In an announcement made on Wednesday, the Australia-based IREN became Microsoft's largest customer. Under the five-year agreement, this neo-cloud operator specializing in data centers for artificial intelligence workloads will provide Microsoft access to Nvidia chipsets.

IREN stocks saw a 10% increase on their first day and have recorded an approximately 580% rise since the beginning of the year.

Additionally, IREN formed a partnership with Dell Technologies worth approximately $5.8 billion to purchase processors and related equipment. This agreement reinforces the transformation of cryptocurrency miners into a central player in the AI wave and allows them to leverage land, energy, and data centers for AI workloads through long-term contracts.

Many miners, such as Riot, TeraWulf, and Cipher Miner, have redirected their resources towards high-performance computing infrastructure and artificial intelligence. This shift has led to respective increases of 100%, 160%, and 360% in their stock prices throughout the year.

Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani and his team stated, "Bitcoin miners are now an integral part of the AI value chain. They are providing warmed power shells for AI data centers, which are considered the biggest bottleneck for execution."

Chhugani added, "Every Bitcoin miner listed on the U.S. stock exchange has undergone a transformation towards optimizing the value of energy assets rather than maximizing Bitcoin gains." Fluctuations in Bitcoin prices and a crowded mining field have squeezed profit margins, while the Bitcoin halving event every four years has further eroded revenues over time.

IREN announced earlier this year that it would stop expanding its Bitcoin mining operations and prioritize its artificial intelligence cloud and data center business. Bernstein has given a 'Buy' rating with a price target of $75 for the stocks, stating, "We believe there is still room for multiple expansions as IREN continues to scale its AI business."