2024

Bitcoin

April

Bitcoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BTC</a>) miners have raised $11 billion in convertible debt — corporate debt that is convertible to stocks — over the last year, amid a pivot into artificial intelligence data centers.
Miners have completed 18 convertible bond deals since the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-halving-2024-completion-confirmed" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">April 2024 Bitcoin halving</a> that slashed the block reward by 50%, according to <a href="https://theminermag.com/news/2025-10-30/miner-weekly-bitcoin-convertible-wave" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">TheMinerMag</a>.
The average convertible bond issue more than doubled, with mining companies MARA, Cipher Mining, IREN and TeraWulf each raising $1 billion through single bond issues. Some offerings have featured coupons as low as 0%, signaling investors’ willingness to waive interest payments in exchange for potential equity upside.
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 <img alt="Mining, Energy Consumption, Bitcoin Mining, Energy" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-10/019a35de-9b13-7338-b89c-7b09835a32a1" title="">
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 Convertible bond deals from July 2024 to October 2025. Source: <a href="https://theminermag.com/news/2025-10-30/miner-weekly-bitcoin-convertible-wave" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">TheMinerMag</a>
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Most convertible bonds issued by Bitcoin miners in the preceding year ranged from $200 million to $400 million.&nbsp;
The mining industry <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-miners-gamble-ai-paid-off" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">diversified into AI data centers</a> to address revenue shortfalls following the April 2024 halving. Miners continue to struggle with a challenging business model, which is affected by tokenomics, trade policies, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-china-trade-war-bitcoin-mining-tariffs" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">supply chain issues</a>, and rising energy costs.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-miners-rally-jane-street-bitfarms-cipher-hut-8" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bitcoin miners build on gains after Jane Street discloses stakes</a>
<h2 id="miners-brace-for-hashrate-war-and-energy-hungry-ai-operations">Miners brace for hashrate war and energy-hungry AI operations</h2>
Miner debt has <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-miner-debt-surges-ai-hpc-expansion" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">surged by 500% over the last year</a>, totaling $12.7 billion, according to a recent <a href="https://www.vaneck.com/us/en/blogs/digital-assets/matthew-sigel-vaneck-mid-october-2025-bitcoin-chaincheck/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">report</a> from investment manager VanEck.
However, VanEck analysts Nathan Frankovitz and Matthew Sigel noted that these debt levels reflect a fundamental problem in the mining industry — heavy capital expenditures on mining hardware that must be upgraded annually in some cases.
“Historically, miners relied on equity markets, not debt, to fund these steep capex costs,” they wrote, and called the significant hardware costs to remain competitive a “melting ice cube.”
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 <img alt="Mining, Energy Consumption, Bitcoin Mining, Energy" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-10/019a35db-6e95-7764-bfe3-4d28be2ab143" title="">
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 Bitcoin’s network hashrate continues to rise.
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The Bitcoin mining hashrate — the total amount of computing power securing the Bitcoin network — continues to rise, forcing miners to <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-miners-hashrate-debt-ai-expansion" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">expend ever-greater computing and energy resources</a> as time goes on.
In October, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright <a href="https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-10/403%20Large%20Loads%20Letter.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">proposed</a> a regulatory change to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that would allow data centers and miners to <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-secretary-expedite-grid-access-ai-bitcoin-mining" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">connect directly to energy grids</a>. This would allow these energy-intensive applications to satisfy their energy needs while they act as controllable load resources for the energy grid, balancing and stabilizing the electrical infrastructure during times of peak demand and curtailing excess energy during low demand.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/7-reasons-bitcoin-mining-terrible-business-idea-bit-digital/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">7 reasons why Bitcoin mining is a terrible business idea</a>

BTC mining industry finances AI gold rush with $11B convertible bond boom

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