• Core Scientific's colocation revenue rose nearly 60% sequentially to $215.4 million; self-mining and hosted mining together brought in $17.5 million [1].
  • Core Scientific CFO Jim Nygaard said the company expects to finish the mining wind-down in the fourth quarter and enter 2027 as a pure-play colocation provider [2].
  • IREN's bitcoin mining revenue was $28 million, down from $233 million a year earlier, as it mined 402 bitcoin against 2,039 [3][4].
  • IREN aims to substantially complete its move to AI cloud by Dec. 31, with immaterial mining continuing through 2027 [4].
  • Core Scientific's remaining self-mining operation ran at a negative 61% gross margin in the quarter [1].

Core Scientific and IREN, two miners that built their businesses on bitcoin, said on Thursday that they will be largely finished with it by the end of the year. Both reported third-quarter results on Nov. 5 in which AI data center revenue made up the overwhelming majority of sales [1][3].

Core Scientific's colocation revenue rose nearly 60% from the second quarter to $215.4 million, out of total revenue of $232.9 million. Self-mining and hosted mining brought in $17.5 million combined [1]. "We expect to complete the wind-down during the fourth quarter and enter 2027 as a pure-play, high-density colocation provider," CFO Jim Nygaard said on the earnings call, according to Cointelegraph [2].

IREN, which reports on a June fiscal year, said AI cloud revenue for the quarter to Sept. 30 rose 182% sequentially to $200 million, while bitcoin mining revenue fell to $28 million from $67 million in the prior quarter [3]. In its quarterly filing, IREN said it aims "to substantially complete this transition by December 31, 2026 with immaterial Bitcoin mining operations expected to continue through calendar year 2027" [4].

Core Scientific: mining now loses money on every coin

Figures are from Core Scientific's results release [1]. The self-mining segment cost $19.8 million to run in the quarter against $12.3 million of revenue, a gross margin of negative 61% [1]. Nygaard said the company had nearly 50% fewer miners online at the end of September than at the end of 2025, according to Cointelegraph [2].

The quarterly filing says Core Scientific is not buying new mining equipment to maintain or expand its hash rate, and that its one remaining hosted-mining customer will be served only until Dec. 31 [5]. In the second quarter it paid to terminate a mining-equipment contract with Block and Proto, booking a $41.9 million loss, and earlier this year it recorded $266.5 million of mining-asset impairments [5][2].

The colocation side is billing for 485 megawatts, up from 395 megawatts at the end of June, which the company says represents over $700 million in average annualized GAAP revenue [1]. CEO Adam Sullivan said Core Scientific is "nearing full delivery" under its first colocation agreement while construction under its second is underway across five campuses [1]. Adjusted EBITDA more than tripled sequentially to $133.6 million [1]. Reported net income of $1.18 billion came mostly from a non-cash gain on the fair value of warrants, after a $1.16 billion loss in the second quarter driven by the same line [1].

IREN: 402 bitcoin in a quarter

IREN mined 402 bitcoin in the September quarter, compared with 2,039 a year earlier, and its average operating hashrate fell to 8.8 exahashes per second from 45.3 [4]. The company said fewer coins mined cut revenue by $116 million against the year-ago quarter and a lower average bitcoin price cut it by a further $89 million [4]. It sells mined bitcoin daily and held none at quarter-end [4].

Total revenue rose 66% sequentially to $228 million and adjusted EBITDA rose to $66 million from $19 million. IREN still reported a net loss of $263 million, narrower than the $684 million loss in the June quarter, which included $450 million of asset impairments [3]. Its revenue backlog rose 22% to $20.3 billion [3].

The same release moved IREN's target of more than $4 billion in annualized recurring revenue from year-end to January, possibly the end of February, after a customer-requested design change, as MLQ reported on Thursday. IREN shares fell 17% on Thursday to close at $18.03 amid a broader tech sell-off, The Block reported [6].

Why the miners are leaving

Both companies spell out the same economics. Mining revenue depends on the bitcoin price, the network hashrate and the block reward, none of which the miners control, while AI tenants sign multi-year contracts for the same power and buildings [4][5]. Core Scientific said in its filing that as mining winds down, the share of its costs exposed directly to power prices will shrink [5].

Not every miner is moving at the same speed. Hut 8 reported a $131 million third-quarter profit on gains in its bitcoin holdings this week. Core Scientific's own timeline has also compressed: the Wall Street Journal reported in December 2025 that it was targeting a mining exit by 2028, according to Cointelegraph [2].

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