Mining Company Shares Surge in 2026 While Bitcoin Price Struggles
Cryptocurrency mining firms trading publicly are experiencing significant growth in 2026 even as Bitcoin falls, with diversification into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing driving the rally.
Companies engaged in cryptocurrency mining that trade on public exchanges are experiencing significant gains throughout 2026, despite ongoing challenges facing the wider cryptocurrency marketplace.
The entire top ten list of publicly listed mining company stocks are showing year-to-date (YTD) positive returns, with increases spanning from approximately 5% to over 85%, based on information from Bitcoinminingstock.io.
The pack is led by TeraWulf, Inc., which has experienced gains of approximately 85%, with Hut 8 Corp. coming in second at roughly 67%, and Riot Platforms, Inc. claiming third place at around 46%.
Additional significant mining operations have similarly demonstrated impressive returns, with Core Scientific, Inc. climbing about 40%, while Applied Digital Corporation has experienced an increase of roughly 37% year-to-date.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Bitdeer Technologies Group shows gains of around 5%, positioning it as the most modest performer within the top 10. Beyond this group, American Bitcoin Corp., a Bitcoin mining and treasury firm with Trump connections that was established by Hut 8 and supported by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., has experienced a decline of roughly 29%.
This upward trend is occurring despite Bitcoin (BTC) trading down around 20% YTD, though the cryptocurrency has gained about 17% over the past 30 days.
Leading cryptocurrency mining operations expand AI infrastructure investments
These stock increases coincide with a strategic pivot by numerous major mining operations toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure.
This Thursday, Riot Platforms disclosed $167.2 million in first quarter 2026 revenue, with its data center operations accounting for $33.2 million of that total, which helped balance out reduced revenue from its primary mining activities. The company's CEO Jason Les characterized the quarter as an "inflection point," marking the firm's evolution into a data center operator that generates revenue.
Core Scientific, Inc. is similarly expanding its infrastructure footprint, announcing intentions to transform a Texas location into a data center campus focused on AI with capacity reaching up to 1.5 gigawatts, with about 1 gigawatt designated for lease arrangements. According to the company, approximately 300 megawatts presently allocated to Bitcoin mining at this location will be redirected toward data center usage.
During February, HIVE Digital Technologies announced a 219% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue driven by expansion of its AI and high-performance computing operations, alongside a $30 million contract for deploying Nvidia GPUs to serve enterprise AI cloud clients. During that identical month, MARA Holdings, Inc. completed an acquisition of a 64% stake in Exaion, a French AI data center company.
According to a report released by Bernstein last week, IREN Limited, which holds the position as the largest publicly traded mining company by market cap, may ultimately "sunset" its Bitcoin mining activities while it converts facilities for GPU-based computational workloads.