Core Scientific to End Bitcoin Mining by Year-End 2026 as AI Business Surges

Core Scientific expects to exit Bitcoin mining by the end of 2026 as it redirects its operations toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure. According to Cointelegraph, Chief Financial Officer Jim Nygaard said during the company’s Q3 earnings call on Thursday that Core Scientific expects to complete the wind-down in the fourth quarter and enter 2027 as a high-density colocation provider. The company previously disclosed in a July quarterly filing that hosted mining would end by Dec. 31, while it continued reducing its self-mining operations. Nygaard’s remarks set a target for completing the broader exit from Bitcoin mining. The company’s latest quarterly results show mining’s reduced contribution: self-mining revenue was $12.3 million in the third quarter, down from $57.4 million a year earlier, while revenue from hosting other miners fell to $5.2 million from $8.7 million. Combined, Bitcoin mining generated $17.5 million, or 7.5%, of Core Scientific’s $232.9 million in third-quarter revenue. Colocation services accounted for $215.4 million. Nygaard also said the company had nearly 50% fewer miners online at the end of September than at the end of 2025. Core Scientific’s expansion into AI hosting began in 2024, when it signed an initial hosting agreement with CoreWeave in March, followed by a substantially larger deal announced in June. The company initially described AI hosting as an addition to its mining operations, and its June 2024 announcement emphasized retaining Bitcoin mining capacity. By December 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported that Core Scientific was targeting a Bitcoin mining wind-down by 2028. Financial pressures on mining followed: the company recorded $266.5 million in mining-related asset impairments in the first quarter of 2026, citing weaker Bitcoin prices, historically low hashprice and lower secondary-market values for mining equipment. In the second quarter, it ended its mining equipment agreement with Block and Proto and recorded a $41.9 million loss as part of the transition. The planned exit comes amid heightened scrutiny of data-center expansion. Reuters reported Wednesday that opponents of data-center development were among the winners of the Democrats’ sweeping midterm gains. Concerns include electricity bills and the strain large facilities can place on local resources. Core Scientific was contacted for comment.