Core Scientific sells $175 million in bitcoin as AI pivot accelerates

Core Scientific (CORZ), a bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure company, sold just over 1,900 bitcoin in January for approximately $175 million, according to CORZ Q4 earnings call.

The sale implies an average price of about $92,100 per $BTC, about 35% higher than today's $67,000 current price, as it accelerates its shift toward AI focused data center operations.

Chief Financial Officer Jim Nygaard said on the Q4 call the company “we also opportunistically sold just over 1,900 bitcoin for approximately $175 million,” adding, “at this time, we hold under 1,000 bitcoin and expect to remain opportunistic going forward.”

On Dec. 31, 2025, the company held 2,537 $BTC with the latest sale bringing its tally to around 630 $BTC.

Management has made clear that bitcoin mining is no longer the long term focus. CEO Adam Sullivan described the mining segment as “essentially in runoff,” with operations maintained primarily to meet minimum power draw requirements while legacy sites are converted into colocation facilities supporting AI and high performance computing workloads.

Core Scientific ended the year with approximately $530 million in liquidity and highlighted up to $4 billion in potential financing tied to its 590 megawatt CoreWeave contract at stabilization, underscoring that $BTC sales are being used to fund AI infrastructure expansion rather than rebuild mining capacity.
Core Scientific missed fourth quarter expectations, reporting $79.8 million in revenue versus $122.08 million consensus and a loss of $0.42 per share compared with estimates for a $0.08 loss.

The shift reflects a broader industry pivot away from pure bitcoin mining toward AI and data center infrastructure, with MARA Holdings (MARA) striking a deal with investment firm Starwood, Riot Platforms (RIOT) selling roughly $200 million of bitcoin in the final two months of 2025, and both Cipher Digital (CIFR) and Bitfarms (BITF) rebranding to emphasize AI and HPC exposure.