Crypto Mining Stocks: IREN Surges While BTDR Struggles
2025 Crypto Mining Stock Performance: Key Players
As 2025 concludes, Bitcoin faced a challenging year, down approximately 7% year-to-date, while gold, the S&P 500, and tech stocks hit record highs.
Public bitcoin mining stocks displayed significant disparities, largely influenced by diversification into artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure. Companies pivoting to AI showed remarkable performance.
Top Performers
- IREN (IREN) achieved a +300% YTD gain, driven by significant GPU cloud agreements and Microsoft's support.
- Cipher Mining (CIFR) rose by 230%, enhancing AI hosting partnerships with Fluidstack.
- Hut 8 (HUT) increased by around 139%, bolstered by a $7 billion, 15-year AI data center lease at its River Bend site in Louisiana.
Underperformers
Conversely, major bitcoin holders among public miners lagged behind AI/HPC-focused miners.
- Marathon Digital (MARA), the leading BTC holder with 53,250 BTC, dropped 44% YTD.
- CleanSpark (CLSK) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) gained 16% and 32%, respectively, without significant AI diversification until later in the year.
- Core Scientific (CORZ) remained independent after a $9 billion takeover bid by CoreWeave was rejected, with shares up 9% YTD.
Biggest Loser
Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR), the sector's largest underperformer, fell around 50%. Losses followed a Q3 earnings announcement revealing a larger-than-expected net loss and an ASIC chip delay, casting doubt on its AI expansion plans.
This year highlighted a trend: miners repurposing sites for AI data centers outperformed those focused solely on bitcoin.