Bitcoin Miners Pivot To AI: Core Scientific Sells BTC, MARA Ends Pure HODL, American Bitcoin Expands Fleet
Bitcoin miners are splitting into two camps as the industry faces sustained price pressure below $70,000. Core Scientific plans to sell most of its remaining Bitcoin holdings to fund an artificial intelligence data center push, MARA Holdings has formally ended its pure accumulation policy, and American Bitcoin is moving in the opposite direction — expanding its mining fleet and holding its treasury steady.
The divergence, which crystallised across a handful of regulatory filings and corporate announcements on March 3–4, 2026, offers the clearest picture yet of how public miners are responding to a prolonged Bitcoin drawdown. Bitcoin was trading near $68,000 at the time of writing, down roughly 11% over the past month and 27% over the past three months from a late-2025 peak above $126,000.
Core Scientific Accelerates AI Pivot
Core Scientific (NASDAQ: CORZ) disclosed plans to sell virtually all of its remaining Bitcoin holdings in the first quarter of 2026, with proceeds earmarked for data center infrastructure rather than balance-sheet accumulation. Between December 2025 and February 2026, the company had already sold 1,924 BTC for aggregate proceeds of approximately $176 million. That leaves roughly 613 BTC — worth around $42 million at current prices — still on its books, most of which the company expects to liquidate before the quarter closes.
The company is also converting its Pecos, Texas, facility from Bitcoin mining to colocation services, targeting demand from AI and high-performance computing clients. Core Scientific’s Q4 2025 revenue fell 16% year-over-year, adding urgency to the pivot. The firm joins CleanSpark, Riot Platforms, and IREN in shifting revenue streams toward infrastructure services. According to industry data cited in reporting, roughly 70% of the top ten Bitcoin mining companies were already generating revenue from infrastructure services by the end of 2025.
MARA Ends Its Full-HODL Stance
MARA Holdings, the second-largest publicly listed corporate Bitcoin holder, made a quieter but arguably more significant move. Its annual 10-K filing, submitted to the SEC on March 2, 2026, formally expanded the company’s treasury policy to allow sales of Bitcoin held directly on its balance sheet — not just newly mined coins.
“In 2026, we expanded the strategy to allow for sales of bitcoin held on our balance sheet,” the filing stated. “Accordingly, we may hold bitcoin for long-term investment purposes and may also buy or sell bitcoin from time to time, subject to market conditions and our capital allocation priorities.”
No immediate sales have been announced. MARA currently holds 53,822 BTC, worth approximately $3.6 billion. Roughly 72% of that — about 38,507 BTC — remains in unrestricted long-term treasury. The remaining portion is either loaned out, generating $32.1 million in interest income in 2025, or pledged as collateral for a $350 million credit facility.
The policy change follows a bruising fourth quarter in which MARA recorded a $1.7 billion net loss, largely from non-cash fair-value adjustments tied to Bitcoin’s late-2025 price decline. The company has also entered a joint venture with Starwood Capital to develop AI and HPC data centers, repurposing its energy infrastructure. Monetising part of its Bitcoin reserve could fund that transition without diluting shareholders through equity issuance.
The shift raises questions about other large corporate holders. Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, remains the largest public holder at 720,737 BTC and has continued buying — adding 3,015 BTC for approximately $204 million as recently as early March. Founder Michael Saylor posted on social media Tuesday: “I’m buying Bitcoin right now. Are you?” Strategy’s CEO Phong Le acknowledged last November, however, that the company might be forced to sell under specific financial stress conditions.
American Bitcoin Doubles Down on Mining
American Bitcoin Corp. is not following the same script. The company, co-founded by Eric Trump, confirmed the purchase of 11,298 new ASIC miners that will add approximately 3.05 exahashes per second of capacity once deployed at its Drumheller, Alberta, facility this month.
The acquisition brings its total owned fleet to 89,242 machines representing 28.1 EH/s at an average efficiency of 16 joules per terahash. The new units operate at 13.5 J/TH — a meaningful efficiency advantage over older hardware at a time when network difficulty sits near 144.40 trillion, squeezing margins across the sector. Once the new rigs are energised, the operational fleet will consist of 58,999 active miners running at roughly 25 EH/s with an efficiency of approximately 14.1 J/TH.
Based on current network data, the added capacity represents about 0.3% of global hashrate and could generate an estimated 42 BTC per month, or roughly 515 BTC annually. At prices near $68,000, that output would represent around $35 million in gross annual revenue before operating costs.
“Every decision we make is oriented around maximising Bitcoin accumulation,” said Matt Prusak, president of American Bitcoin. Eric Trump, the company’s co-founder and chief strategy officer, framed the expansion in national terms: “As Bitcoin matures, the priority is clear: grow American-owned, professionally operated hashrate.”
The company ended 2025 with 5,401 BTC on its balance sheet and has since grown that figure to more than 6,039 BTC, valued at nearly $402 million. Full-year 2025 revenue reached $185.2 million, though the company posted a net loss of $153.2 million — driven primarily by a $227.1 million unrealised loss on Bitcoin holdings under fair-value accounting rules.
American Bitcoin shares fell roughly 2.6% to $0.99 on Tuesday and extended losses to near $0.96 in later trading, down approximately 29% over the past month.
A Sector at a Crossroads
The contrasting moves across Core Scientific, MARA, and American Bitcoin illustrate an industry under structural pressure. Rising network difficulty, elevated energy costs, and a Bitcoin price that remains well below its all-time high have forced miners to make hard choices about capital allocation. Some are rotating into AI infrastructure to stabilise revenue. Others are betting that expanding hashrate now — at peak stress — positions them for outsize returns if Bitcoin recovers.
Which strategy proves correct will depend on variables no balance sheet can fully hedge: where Bitcoin trades in the months ahead, how quickly AI infrastructure contracts materialise, and whether the current phase of miner stress marks a cycle floor or the beginning of a longer contraction.
