Core Scientific mining exit set for year-end
The Core Scientific mining exit will be complete by year-end, the company said, as colocation for AI workloads delivered $215.4 million of its $232.9 million third-quarter revenue.
One of the best-known names in bitcoin mining is about to stop mining bitcoin. The Core Scientific mining exit will be finished in the fourth quarter, finance chief Jim Nygaard told analysts on the company's November 5 earnings call, with the firm entering 2027 as "a pure-play, high-density colocation provider."
What happened
Third-quarter results show how far the shift has gone. Colocation revenue rose nearly 60% from the previous quarter to $215.4 million, and Core Scientific said it was billing for 485 MW of capacity at September 30, equal to more than $700 million in average annualized colocation revenue. Adjusted EBITDA reached $133.6 million, over three times the prior quarter, for a 57% margin. Net income reached about $1.2 billion, flattered by a non-cash gain on warrants.
Mining is now a rounding error. Revenue from its own mining slid to $12.3 million, against $57.4 million a year before, and hosting for other miners dropped to $5.2 million, together just 7.5% of revenue, Cointelegraph calculated. Nygaard said the fleet running at end-September was almost half the size it was at the close of 2025.
The balance sheet followed. Core Scientific sold 816 BTC during the quarter and held only 32 at September 30, down from 2,537 at the end of 2025, according to Crypto Briefing. The value of digital assets on its books dropped to $2.7 million from $222 million.
Why it matters
The company's AI pivot began with CoreWeave hosting deals in 2024 that were pitched as additions to mining. The Core Scientific mining exit turns that hedge into the whole strategy, and the move tracks a wider trend: miners are selling power and space to AI tenants because those contracts pay more predictably than a block reward, a pattern visible in the Riot Corsicana lease and the pressures behind American Bitcoin's profit.
It also removes a seller and a hashrate source from bitcoin's network. Core Scientific booked $266.5 million of mining-related impairments in the first quarter, citing weaker prices and historically low hashprice, which shows why the economics tipped. It also booked a $41.9 million loss in the second quarter after terminating a mining hardware deal with Block and Proto.
What's next
Construction under a second colocation agreement is under way across five campuses, chief executive Adam Sullivan said. Investors will watch delivery timing and financing as data center politics harden after the midterms. Energy contracts with CoreWeave and AMD total a combined 1,120 MW, according to Crypto Briefing, giving the Core Scientific mining exit a clear landing zone. The Wall Street Journal had reported in December 2025 that the company was aiming to wind down mining by 2028, so the timetable has moved forward.
The company's full results are in its third-quarter release.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice.