Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms signed a 20-year lease with an unnamed frontier artificial intelligence laboratory to supply 191 megawatts of power at its Rockdale, Texas campus, generating approximately $9.1 billion in contract revenue over the term.
The deal represents Riot's largest revenue contract to date. Most Bitcoin miners generate revenue directly from block rewards and transaction fees; Riot is instead leasing excess capacity to an AI compute tenant at what the company says is a profitable rate. The contract spans two decades, making it one of the longest power-supply agreements a mining firm has committed to with a single customer.
Riot reported second-quarter revenue of $174.2 million, beating consensus estimates, though the company posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $69.7 million. The loss reflects the cost of expanding its power infrastructure ahead of the lease revenue. Riot holds 11,380 Bitcoin, worth roughly $700 million at current prices. Stock in the company rose 11 percent in after-hours trading following the announcement.
During the past year, major Bitcoin miners have begun treating their power grids as independent utilities rather than captive infrastructure for mining alone. Core Scientific, Marathon Digital and others have announced power-sales contracts with large compute tenants. A 191-megawatt lease represents roughly 40 percent of Riot's total capacity at Rockdale and sits at the scale where the economics of the lease likely surpass what the same power would generate from Bitcoin mining in a commodity bull market.
Riot did not name the AI laboratory tenant, citing confidentiality agreements. The company said the lease is "expected to commence" operations, indicating the deal has been signed but the data center remains under construction or awaiting final technical certification. The contract includes provisions for power delivery beginning in phases, typical for large infrastructure projects.
Riot's Rockdale campus sits in a region where grid operators have begun offering subsidies and long-term rate certainty to attract compute tenants, competing with other states for the capital spending of frontier AI companies. How quickly the AI tenant ramps to full 191-megawatt consumption will determine whether Riot's revenue forecast holds to schedule.
