Bitcoin Miner TeraWulf Aims to Raise $575 Million to Fund Google-Backed AI Ambitions

Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin miner TeraWulf is aiming to raise $575 million to help fund its Google-backed data center ambitions, according to a company announcement on Wednesday. 

The funding will be raised via $500 million of convertible notes with plans to raise another $75 million in debt after the first offering. Convertible notes are a form of debt that can be converted into a company's stock or cash by an investor. 

TeraWulf on Tuesday said it was expanding its partnership with AI compute company Fluidstack by building a data center with more computing power. The two first signed a Google-backed deal to work together with the plan of a site in Abernathy, Texas in the second half of this year under a 25-year hosting commitment. 

TeraWulf stock (WULF) dipped slightly on the news and was recently priced at $15.89 per share. Shares soared on Tuesday after the company said it was scaling its deal with Fluidstack. Over the past five days, WULF has risen nearly 26%, according to Yahoo Finance data. 

The company is the latest to delve into the world of data centers. Mining Bitcoin has grown more challenging after last year's halving cut the amount of digital coins earned from 6.250 to 3.125. 

Minting coins has become harder, and the price of the leading cryptocurrency hasn't shot up as aggressively as in previous cycles, prompting miners to look for new revenue sources. 

Bitcoin miners—typically large operations run by companies in warehouses full of energy-intensive, expensive computers—receive Bitcoin for keeping the network running. They often have to sell crypto to cover their operating costs. 

Mining companies are looking to AI data centers to grow revenue. 

Top publicly-traded miner Hut 8 in August unveiled plans to develop 1.53 gigawatts of new capacity across four U.S. sites. 

Google in September announced a separate deal to backstop a deal between Fluidstack and Bitcoin miner Cipher, giving Google the right to buy a 5.4% stake in Cipher.

Bitcoin was recently trading at about $112,350, down 2.5% over the past 24 hours, according to data provider CoinGecko. In a Myriad prediction market, about two in three respondents agreed with crypto trader Mando who has predicted that BTC would regain $120,000. Myriad is a unit of Dastan, the parent company of an editorially independent Decrypt.