Riot sells off BTC to raise 9.1 billion AI orders, and will not take rent until 2027

According to Woofun AI, traditional mining giant Riot Platforms (RIOT.US) is accelerating its transformation to AI infrastructure and has signed a data center lease agreement with an unadvanced AI lab, marking a shift in the focus of its business from computing power mining to computing power leasing.

The agreement covers 191 megawatts of capacity, has a 20-year contract period, and is expected to generate total revenue of approximately $9.1 billion. According to data compiled by Woofun AI, the project is estimated to cost $2.1 billion to $2.3 billion, of which 80% to 90% rely on long-term project loans. After deducting an estimated $180 million in AMD (AMD.US) hardware refinancing, the remaining equity capital gap is between $210 million and $4.6 billion. If the financing structure is optimized, this gap is expected to drop to $30 million to $280 million. If the tenant exercises the right to two extensions, the total contract revenue cap can be raised to US$161 billion.

To fill the funding gap, Riot Platforms (RIOT.US) sees Bitcoin as a core funding source. As of June 30, the company held 11,380 bitcoins, of which 5,821 had been pledged to obtain a $200 million Coinbase (COIN.US) credit line, which limited 51.2% of its holdings and only 5,559 were available. In the first half of 2026, the company sold 9,665 bitcoins and raised $732.5 million.

Although the new sale plan was not announced on August 11, management still sees it as a key liquidity supplement.

At the financial level, the cost after depreciation is 26.5% higher than output, but depreciation is a non-cash expense, and actual operating costs are still lower than revenue. However, rent payments will not begin until the data center is put into operation in 2027, which means that Riot Platforms (RIOT.US) must rely on continuing to sell Bitcoin to balance short-term financial pressure until long-term high returns are realized.