Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 Corp. announced Wednesday that it has signed a 15-year, $9.8 billion lease for the first phase of its Beacon Point AI data center campus in Nueces County, Texas. The deal is the latest example of crypto infrastructure companies pivoting to meet surging demand for AI computing power.
Shares of Hut 8 (HUT) surged 33% in early Wednesday trading to an all-time high of $109.88, reflecting investor enthusiasm for the company's strategic shift.
The agreement covers 352 megawatts of IT capacity with a high-investment-grade tenant, which will deploy dedicated compute infrastructure for AI training and inference workloads at hyperscale. The site was originally underwritten for Bitcoin mining by Hut 8's subsidiary, American Bitcoin, but was repositioned mid-development to accommodate AI workloads.
The deal brings Hut 8's total contracted AI data center capacity to 597 megawatts, with an aggregate base-term contract value of approximately $16.8 billion. The lease includes a 3% annual rent escalator and three five-year renewal options that could push its total value to $25.1 billion.
AEP Texas has executed an interconnection agreement for the full 1,000-megawatt campus, with initial energization expected in the first quarter of 2027. Hut 8 is also pursuing a broader pipeline spanning 7,545 megawatts of energy capacity.