Bitcoin Miner IREN Sees Stock Surge Amid AI Interest and Potential BTC Dividend

According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin miner IREN experienced a significant stock increase of nearly 30% on Wednesday following an earnings conference call where executives revealed interest from an artificial intelligence (AI) firm and discussed the possibility of a Bitcoin dividend. The Sydney-based company has been approached by a large cloud service provider, known as a hyperscaler, to potentially host computing infrastructure at IREN's Sweetwater mining site in Texas. Co-CEO and co-founder Daniel Roberts mentioned that the hyperscaler, initially uninterested, has now shown interest, although he refrained from providing specific details due to ongoing negotiations and uncertainties. IREN is among several miners seeking to diversify revenue by hosting data centers for major tech companies, driven by the increasing demand for AI and high-performance computing (HPC). This strategic shift began earlier this year after Bitcoin's fourth halving event reduced mining rewards by 50%, impacting profit margins. Competitor Core Scientific initiated this trend by securing AI hosting deals worth billions, which boosted its stock price and encouraged others to follow suit. In July, IREN, formerly known as Iris Energy, appointed Morgan Stanley to explore monetizing its mining facilities for the AI data center market. Despite these efforts, IREN's share price had underperformed compared to peers, partly due to a short seller's claim that one of its sites was unsuitable for such operations. However, recent comments from the conference call appear to have positively influenced market perception, leading to the stock's outperformance on Wednesday. Executives also highlighted the potential for a Bitcoin dividend, driven by the cryptocurrency's surge to near-record highs. CFO Belinda Nucifora indicated that achieving positive operating cash flows could support investor distributions by 2025. This prospect is likely to be well-received by the market, as investors seek exposure to the rising Bitcoin price. Besides direct purchases, traders are exploring opportunities through exchange-traded funds or publicly traded companies like MicroStrategy and MARA Holdings, which are actively acquiring Bitcoin. IREN's ability to mine Bitcoin at a significantly lower cost of approximately $29,000, compared to the market price of around $96,000, presents an opportunity to accumulate BTC at discounted rates. Co-CEO Roberts emphasized the potential to generate Bitcoin at a $29,000 cash cost for investors, offering distribution either through physical coins or as cash flow, which he described as a powerful advantage.