Nasdaq-listed IREN Limited (IREN) shares jumped nearly 20% on Monday after the AI cloud provider signed $2.8 billion in new customer contracts and lifted its 2026 revenue run-rate target above $4 billion.
The rally sent the stock bouncing off long-held support near $33. It formed part of a wider surge across <a href="https://cryptoz7.com/bitcoin-just-reclaimed-65k-why-this-could-be-the-markets-biggest-turning-point-yet/” title=”Bitcoin Just Reclaimed $65k: Why This Could Be the Market's Biggest Turning Point Yet”>Bitcoin (BTC) mining stocks now repositioning as artificial intelligence infrastructure providers.
The Deal Driving the Re-Rating
IREN, formerly Iris Energy, said roughly 85% of its raised target is now under contract. The new multi-year deals total $2.8 billion in value.
Its customer list now spans Microsoft, NVIDIA, Perplexity, Figure AI, and Together AI, among others. The company sells computing power for AI training and inference.
The move landed alongside a broader rally. Rival Hut 8 disclosed a 15-year, $9.8 billion AI data center lease in Texas the same day.
Cipher, CleanSpark, and MARA Holdings each rose more than 11%. The gains reflect a growing pivot to AI infrastructure that has decoupled miner shares from crypto prices.
Investors increasingly treat these companies as data center operators, not leveraged bets on Bitcoin. AI cloud revenue is recurring and does not track crypto cycles or halving events.
That shift matters after post-halving margin pressure squeezed mining profits through 2026. IREN co-founder and co-CEO Daniel Roberts framed the scale of the buildout. Roberts said, in the company statement:
“Our vertically integrated AI Cloud platform is scaling at pace… we have expanded from approximately 3MW of self-built AI Cloud capacity to 480MW being delivered this year, with 1.2GW targeted for 2027…”
The Funding Gap Bulls and Bears Debate
Not everyone is convinced. Blocksbridge Consulting estimates Bitcoin miners need about $50 billion to fund their AI ambitions. IREN carries the largest gap at roughly $21.1 billion.
That figure dwarfs the $7.2 billion gap at Riot Platforms, which has been selling Bitcoin for AI, and HIVE Digital at $4.6 billion. GPU data centers also demand skills that differ from running mining rigs.
IREN pushes back with its balance sheet. It held about $7.6 billion in cash as of June 30. Recent contracts include customer prepayments covering roughly 45% of the related GPU costs.
Those prepayments cut the amount IREN must finance itself. Its contracts carry a weighted average term of about four years, which adds revenue visibility. Analysts have steadily raised IREN price targets through the pivot.
