Bitcoin Miner Riot Signs $28B AI Data Center Lease in Texas

By Nodora News · 5 November 2026

Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms signed a 15-year, $28 billion AI lease for its Corsicana, Texas campus after selling 20,264 BTC in 2026 to fund the pivot.

Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT), one of the largest publicly listed Bitcoin (BTC) miners, has signed a 15-year lease worth about $28 billion with a leading frontier AI lab for its entire Corsicana campus in Texas. The deal, announced with Riot's third-quarter results on Wednesday, November 4, covers 910 megawatts of data center capacity. It is the clearest sign yet that big Bitcoin miners are turning into landlords for artificial intelligence. Riot also disclosed it has sold 20,264 BTC so far this year, worth roughly $1.5 billion, mostly to pay for that shift.

Key takeaways:

• Riot leased all 910 MW of its Corsicana, Texas site for 15 years, worth about $28 billion, or about $54 billion if both five-year extensions are used.
• The company now has about $38 billion of contracted data center revenue across 1,151 MW and three leases signed this year.
• Riot sold 20,264 BTC in the first nine months of 2026 and held 2,418 BTC at the end of September.
• RIOT shares jumped about 13% to 14% on Wednesday, while some rival miners fell on Texas political risk.

What Riot Platforms announced

The Corsicana agreement is a "triple-net powered land lease". In plain terms, Riot supplies the land, the high-voltage power connection and the ready-to-build pads, and keeps owning and maintaining the electrical infrastructure. The tenant brings its own computers, installs and runs them, and pays almost all operating costs, including electricity, which is passed straight through.

Riot did not name the tenant in its release, describing it only as a leading frontier AI lab that already leases part of its Rockdale campus. Cointelegraph reported that Riot's quarterly filing identifies the tenant as Anthropic.

Importantly for investors, rent is due on the full 910 MW whether or not the tenant actually uses all of it. Capacity will be handed over in three phases:

• 400 MW in September 2027
• 200 MW in January 2028
• 310 MW in July 2028

Rent on each phase starts no later than 60 days after it is delivered. Chief executive Jason Les said on the earnings call that Bitcoin mining at Corsicana could start winding down from mid-2027 as the site is handed over.

The numbers behind the $28 billion AI lease

Riot says the lease works out to about $1.8 billion of average annual rent over the initial term, including built-in price increases. Because the tenant carries nearly all running costs, Riot expects an operating margin of about 99%.

• Total build cost: about $6 million per megawatt, or roughly $5.5 billion
• Riot's share: about $2 million per megawatt for site work and electrical gear
• The other $4 million per megawatt is reimbursed to the tenant in phases, once each phase is paying rent, and is expected to be funded with project debt backed by the lease
• Estimated unlevered yield on cost: about 33%

Riot says it does not currently expect to issue new shares to fund the project. Cointelegraph noted, however, that the project debt has not yet been secured. If financing on market terms is not available, the tenant would fund the reimbursements itself and recover them as rent credits.

Riot's Q3 results and its Bitcoin sales

The quarter itself showed why miners are diversifying. Riot reported total revenue of $181.4 million, up 1% from a year earlier and above the roughly $161 million analysts expected, according to FactSet data cited by MarketWatch. Net income came in at about $4 million.

• Bitcoin mining revenue: $116.0 million, down from $160.8 million
• Average BTC price received: $70,855, versus $114,361 a year earlier
• Bitcoin produced: 1,637 BTC, up 16% year on year
• Average cost to mine one BTC (excluding depreciation): $39,265, down from $46,324
• Engineering revenue: $47.0 million, more than double last year
• Data center revenue: $18.4 million, its first full quarter from a 25 MW lease to AMD

Riot ended September with $950.2 million in cash and Bitcoin, including 2,418 BTC. Over the first nine months of the year it sold 20,264 BTC for about $1.5 billion and fully repaid a $200 million credit line from Coinbase. For a company that once held one of the largest corporate Bitcoin stacks, that marks a clear change in strategy: BTC is now being treated as funding for data center construction rather than a long-term treasury asset.

Why it matters for Bitcoin and miners

Bitcoin miners already control what AI companies want most: large sites with grid connections and permits in place. Riot's deal shows how valuable that power has become. One AI lease can bring in far more steady, predictable income than mining, which depends on the BTC price, network difficulty and the four-yearly halving of block rewards.

There are trade-offs. If more miners shift capacity to AI, Bitcoin's network hashrate could grow more slowly. Riot's selling also shows that some miners are steady sellers of the BTC they produce. And nearly all of Riot's contracted data center revenue now comes from a single AI lab, which concentrates its risk.

Politics is another factor. Several analysts flagged the risk that this week's Texas election results could lead to tighter rules or even a pause on new data center construction in the state. That fear hit rivals harder: Cipher fell sharply and MARA lost about 5% on Wednesday, while Riot's signed lease helped it stand out. The broader US election shift is covered in our report on how the CLARITY Act is in doubt after Democrats won Congress.

Market reaction: RIOT stock and BTC price

RIOT shares rose about 14% to around $15.99 in morning trading on Wednesday, according to Yahoo Finance data cited by Crypto Times, with volume well above average. Cointelegraph put the gain at more than 13%. The move came on a strong day for US stocks after the midterm results.

Bitcoin was also firmer. On OKX, BTC traded near $80,030, up about 3.2% over 24 hours, after bouncing from a seven-week low near $75,600 earlier in the week.

You can follow live prices for BTC and other major coins on the Nodora charts page.

What to watch next

• Whether Riot secures the project debt for Corsicana on the terms it expects
• Any Texas rules on new data center power connections or construction
• How quickly Corsicana mining winds down from mid-2027, and how much BTC Riot keeps selling
• Whether other listed Bitcoin miners sign AI leases of a similar size

For another crypto company's results this week, see our coverage of Block's $764 million DOJ settlement over Cash App.

This article is for information only and is not financial advice.

#Bitcoin #Riot Platforms #Bitcoin Mining #AI Data Centers #Earnings

This article is general information, not financial advice.