Game Changer: Bitcoin Miner Riot Strikes Massive AI Deal with Anthropic!
Riot Platforms has secured a massive 20-year contract with AI company Anthropic to lease 191 megawatts at its Rockdale campus, projected to generate billions in revenue. This deal, alongside previous partnerships and strategic Bitcoin sales, reinforces Riot's long-term financial stability and data center expansion. The agreement highlights the company's evolving strategy in both Bitcoin mining and data center services.
Riot Platforms, a prominent Bitcoin miner, has secured a significant long-term contract with the artificial intelligence company Anthropic. This agreement entails Anthropic leasing 191 megawatts of capacity at Riot’s Rockdale, Texas, campus. The 20-year contract, as reported by Bloomberg, is projected to generate approximately $9.1 billion in revenue for Riot Platforms. Furthermore, the deal includes two five-year extension options, which could potentially increase the total value of the agreement to as much as $16.1 billion, establishing a potentially enormous and predictable source of long-term revenue.
Riot’s Rockdale campus boasts a substantial 700 megawatts of grid interconnection capacity, while the company's broader portfolio encompasses about 1.7 gigawatts of fully approved power capacity. This new agreement with Anthropic builds upon Riot’s established data-center business, which was initially bolstered by a partnership with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). AMD had previously agreed to lease 25 megawatts at the Rockdale site before exercising an option to double its contracted capacity to 50 megawatts. In the first quarter, Riot reported $33.2 million in data-center revenue, underscoring the growing importance of this segment.
Alongside its strategic partnerships, Riot Platforms has also been actively managing its Bitcoin holdings through persistent sales throughout the year. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, the company sold 3,778 BTC, realizing approximately $289.5 million at an average net price of $76,626 per Bitcoin. This amount significantly exceeded the 1,473 BTC Riot mined during the same quarter. This strategy of major liquidations is not new; in December 2025, Riot sold 1,818 BTC for $161.6 million, and another 383 BTC were sold in November for $37 million. Consequently, Riot's year-end Bitcoin holdings decreased to 18,005 BTC. These sales also served to finance key acquisitions, such as the approximately 1,080 BTC sold in January to fund the $96 million purchase of 200 acres at the Rockdale site, directly utilizing Bitcoin from the company's balance sheet. These transactions highlight Riot’s increasing willingness to strategically leverage its Bitcoin assets.