Riot sells 9,665 BTC in H1 2026 to fund AI data centers

Riot Platforms sold 9,665 bitcoin in the first half of 2026 to fund its expansion from bitcoin mining into AI and high-performance computing data centers. The sales reduced the company’s corporate treasury as it builds out infrastructure for AI workloads.

The company disclosed a second-quarter sale of 4,300 BTC, leaving 11,380 BTC on hand at June 30, down from about 15,680 BTC at the start of the quarter. Riot reported selling bitcoin in the first quarter for $289.5 million, bringing the six-month total to 9,665 BTC. Of the remaining coins, 5,821 BTC are pledged as collateral on existing loans and are not immediately available for sale or transfer.

Riot continued its mining operations while reducing holdings. The company mined 1,587 BTC in Q2 at an average cash cost of $49,912 per coin, excluding depreciation. The mining business generated $174.2 million in revenue for the quarter, a 14% increase year over year. At the end of the period Riot reported $548.9 million in cash on hand, including $77.5 million restricted, and total liquid assets of about $1.2 billion. Riot’s deployed hashrate reached 42.5 exahashes per second by the end of the first quarter, a 26% increase from the same period in 2025.

Riot tied the bitcoin sales to its data center strategy. The company signed a 20-year, 191-megawatt lease with Anthropic that Riot estimates will generate roughly $9.1 billion in revenue through 2048. Riot has begun to recognize data center revenue streams such as tenant fit-out fees and operating lease income as it transitions to operating AI and high-performance computing capacity in addition to mining.

Other publicly traded miners also reduced bitcoin treasuries in 2026. Marathon Digital sold about 23,093 BTC in the first half of 2026 for roughly $1.6 billion and used proceeds for debt reduction and growth projects. Publicly listed miners collectively sold more than 32,000 BTC in the first quarter of 2026, exceeding their combined full-year sales for 2025. Some mining companies have exhausted their reserves, while others have reorganized to accelerate data center plans. Riot’s remaining 11,380 BTC was worth roughly $730 million at current prices.

More than half of Riot’s remaining bitcoin is pledged as collateral, which limits immediate liquidity. Future bitcoin sales by the company will depend on how its data center revenue streams develop in the coming quarters.