---
title: "Core Scientific and IREN expect to end bitcoin mining by December 31, 2026; contracts price them from January"
description: "Core Scientific and IREN both set December 31, 2026, as mining's end in the same day's earnings. From January their equities price on contracted power, credit and construction instead of the coin."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Data Center"
published: 2026-11-06T15:18:32.363Z
modified: 2026-11-06T15:18:32.363Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/core-scientific-and-iren-expect-to-end-bitcoin-mining-by-december-31-2026-contracts-price-them-from-january
language: en
keywords: "Bitcoin Mining, AI Data Centers, Core Scientific, IREN, Earnings"
---

# Core Scientific and IREN expect to end bitcoin mining by December 31, 2026; contracts price them from January

> Core Scientific and IREN both set December 31, 2026, as mining's end in the same day's earnings. From January their equities price on contracted power, credit and construction instead of the coin.

[Core Scientific](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/core-scientific), one of the largest listed bitcoin miners, and [IREN](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/iren), the Australian-founded miner building AI-cloud capacity for [Microsoft](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/microsoft), both set December 31, 2026, as mining's end in earnings materials dated November 5 [1][3][4]. "[We expect to complete our exit from Bitcoin mining by year end](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/core-scientific-exits-bitcoin-year-end)," Core Scientific chief executive Adam Sullivan said on the call, and IREN's quarterly filing expects its transition substantially complete by the same date, with immaterial mining through 2027 [2][3].

[Core Scientific's filed release](https://cryptonews.net/news/mining/33711438/) is softer, repurposing facilities only "as circumstances allow," so the date rests on management's word [9]. The switch is the right one: a megawatt serving AI tenants earns several times what mining pays [4].

## A megawatt earns several times more serving models

Producing a coin now costs public miners more than the coin fetches [4][1]. [One analyst estimate](https://coinpedia.org/news/core-scientific-to-wind-down-bitcoin-mining-by-q4-2026-as-ai-takes-over/) puts a megawatt's five-year mining yield near $1.9 million, against roughly four times that from AI data-center workloads [4]. What is left is thin: Core Scientific's self-mining ran a gross loss last quarter [2], and IREN's mining revenue fell 88% in a year as rigs are pulled out to make room for GPUs [3].

*Chart: **Core Scientific's revenue bottomed with mining in 2025, then doubled as colocation filled** Line chart of Core Scientific quarterly revenue from Q3 2024 to Q2 2026, dipping near $79 million in mid-2025 and climbing to $164 million by Q2 2026*

*Quarterly revenue, US$ millions, from Core Scientific's SEC filings, retrieved 6 November 2026. Revenue sagged as mining margins went negative, then climbed past the old high as colocation filled the halls. [10]*

*Chart: **AI tenants already dwarf mining at both exiting miners** Grouped columns comparing Core Scientific and IREN September 2026 quarter revenue, AI revenue against bitcoin mining and hosting*

*Quarter ended September 30, 2026, US$ millions. Core Scientific: colocation vs self-mining plus hosted mining. IREN: AI cloud vs bitcoin mining. Company results. [1][3]*

## The halls are rebuilt as contracts, not closed

The sites are repurposed rather than sold. Power, cooling and floor space become high-density colocation, rented under take-or-pay leases that pay whether or not the tenant uses the capacity [9]. Core Scientific carries [more than $24 billion of contracted revenue](https://www.tradingkey.com/news/presentation/262286306-) across [CoreWeave](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/coreweave) and an [AMD](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amd)-backed block [5]; IREN's [backlog tops $20 billion](https://www.tradingkey.com/news/transcripts/262288895-), two-thirds of it with investment-grade customers [6]. Holders who bought these stocks as an AI landlord plus a bitcoin call keep only the landlord from January.

The coin leg of the trade is being switched off with the rigs.

## Riot and Hut 8 mine while they build

The other camp converts without a shutdown date. Riot signed a [$28 billion Corsicana lease](https://cointelegraph.com/news/riots-28b-ai-deal-lifts-shares-as-hut-8-faces-transition-costs) with the AI lab [Anthropic](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/anthropic) and is selling its mined bitcoin to fund the build; mining at that site could begin winding down only in summer 2027 [7]. [Hut 8](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/hut-8-mining) still earns nearly all its revenue from mining and compute while its AI leases pay little until halls open in 2027, and MARA [holds the largest coin treasury among public miners](https://247wallst.com/investing/cryptocurrency/2026/11/04/hut-8-sold-3102-bitcoin-to-buy-back-250-million-of-its-own-stock-which-miners-are-still-holding-theirs/) [8].

## The bottleneck is now the balance sheet, not the coin

With the coin gone, what prices these equities is construction and financing. Core Scientific spent close to $1 billion last quarter adding billable megawatts, a bill we have tracked since shareholders refused CoreWeave's $9 billion bid; IREN trimmed this year's build plan because capital markets turned selective; both stocks fell hard in [this week's AI-infrastructure selloff](https://theinference.org/article/hedge-funds-sold-iren-as-ai-exposure-4-billion-of-contracts-must-convert-on-november-5) [9][6][1][3]. The reward now belongs to whoever finishes the halls and starts billing megawatts, because the conversion, not the coin, is where the value gets created.

## Takeaway

Core Scientific and IREN both set December 31, 2026 as bitcoin mining's end; from January their stocks price on contracted AI revenue, credit and construction, not the coin.

## Sources

1. [CoinCentral, "Core Scientific (CORZ) Stock Falls 11% After Setting Year-End Bitcoin Mining Exit", 6 November 2026](https://coincentral.com/core-scientific-corz-stock-falls-11-after-setting-year-end-bitcoin-mining-exit/)
2. [Bitcoin Magazine, "Core Scientific (CORZ) To Exit Bitcoin Mining By Year-End as Colocation Hits $215 Million", 5 November 2026](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/core-scientific-exits-bitcoin-year-end)
3. [The Block, "IREN's bitcoin mining revenue drops 58% as firm plans full exit by year-end", 5 November 2026](https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-11-05-irens-mining-revenue-drops-435783)
4. [CoinPedia, "Core Scientific to Wind Down Bitcoin Mining By Q4 2026 as AI Takes Over", 6 November 2026](https://coinpedia.org/news/core-scientific-to-wind-down-bitcoin-mining-by-q4-2026-as-ai-takes-over/)
5. [TradingKey, "Core Scientific Q3 Colocation Revenue Reaches $215.4 Million", 6 November 2026](https://www.tradingkey.com/news/presentation/262286306-)
6. [TradingKey, "IREN Fiscal Q1 2027 Earnings Call: AI Cloud Revenue Triples, ARR Target Shifts to January", 6 November 2026](https://www.tradingkey.com/news/transcripts/262288895-)
7. [Cointelegraph, "Riot Lands $28B AI Lease as Hut 8 Faces Rising Costs", 4 November 2026](https://cointelegraph.com/news/riots-28b-ai-deal-lifts-shares-as-hut-8-faces-transition-costs)
8. [24/7 Wall St., "Hut 8 Sold 3,102 Bitcoin to Buy Back $250 Million of Its Own Stock. Which Miners Are Still Holding Theirs?", 4 November 2026](https://247wallst.com/investing/cryptocurrency/2026/11/04/hut-8-sold-3102-bitcoin-to-buy-back-250-million-of-its-own-stock-which-miners-are-still-holding-theirs/)
9. [Blockchain Reporter via Cryptonews.net, "Core Scientific's Revenue Is Now 92% Colocation as Bitcoin Mining Shrinks", 6 November 2026](https://cryptonews.net/news/mining/33711438/)
10. [Core Scientific, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 6 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001839341)


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Core Scientific and IREN expect to end bitcoin mining by December 31, 2026; contracts price them from January — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/core-scientific-and-iren-expect-to-end-bitcoin-mining-by-december-31-2026-contracts-price-them-from-january