Riot Platforms sold 10,599 Bitcoin during the third quarter, reducing its holdings by nearly 79% as the miner redirects capital toward data center development. The company also completed a transfer of its Bitcoin custody from NYDIG Trust to BitGo Bank & Trust, according to an October 29 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Riot’s Bitcoin Holdings Fall 79% After Q3 Sales
Riot’s Bitcoin balance declined from 11,380 BTC at the end of June to 2,418 BTC on September 30. The company mined 1,637 BTC during the quarter, meaning sales were approximately 6.5 times its production. The company reported that it sold 20,264 BTC during the first nine months of 2026 for approximately $1.5 billion, primarily to fund data center development.
The sales mark a significant change in the company’s treasury position, reducing its direct exposure to Bitcoin price movements while providing funding for infrastructure expansion. The company ended September with $950.2 million in cash and Bitcoin, including 2,418 BTC valued at about $202 million at the quarter-end price of $83,554. It also repaid and terminated its $200 million Coinbase credit facility, releasing pledged Bitcoin.
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Riot’s $38B Data Center Pipeline Drives Treasury Strategy
Riot’s capital shift is tied to its expanding data center business. The company announced a 15-year lease with a leading frontier AI lab for 910 megawatts of critical IT capacity at its Corsicana campus, representing approximately $28 billion in contracted revenue. Combined with existing agreements, the company said it has contracted 1,151 MW and about $38 billion in long-term data center revenue.
The Corsicana lease is structured as a triple-net powered land lease, with the tenant responsible for installing and operating its compute equipment and bearing most operating costs. The company expects phased delivery beginning in September 2027, with the final 310 MW scheduled for July 2028. The company said it does not currently anticipate issuing equity to fund its announced projects, though execution and financing risks remain.
Mining Revenue Falls as Data Center Business Expands
Riot reported third-quarter revenue of $181.4 million, up 1% year over year, while net income fell to $4.03 million from $104.48 million. Bitcoin mining revenue declined 28% to $116 million, primarily because the average Bitcoin price received was $70,855 compared with $114,361 a year earlier. Production increased 16% to 1,637 BTC, partially offsetting the price decline.
Data center revenue reached $18.4 million, while engineering revenue rose to $47 million from $19.1 million. The results illustrate the company’s effort to diversify beyond mining, although mining still accounted for the largest share of quarterly revenue. The company’s ability to convert signed leases into operating capacity and recurring income will be central to evaluating whether the transition can offset weaker mining economics.
Riot Completes Bitcoin Custody Transfer From NYDIG to BitGo
Riot’s October 29 Form 8-K said its custodial agreement with NYDIG Trust terminated automatically after the company’s digital assets were transferred to BitGo Bank & Trust. NYDIG had held Riot’s Bitcoin in cold-storage wallets under an agreement dating from November 2023. The company said the transfer was completed under the BitGo custody agreement previously disclosed in an October 14 filing.
The filing states that the company incurred no early termination penalties. The custody change is distinct from the Bitcoin sales used to finance development, but it is relevant to the company’s treasury management as its holdings shrink. Investors will now be watching the pace of data center construction, lease delivery milestones and how the company balances future mining production against its infrastructure funding needs.
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Amrin Sanjay is an Industry Reporter at Tron Weekly, covering developments across the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector. Her reporting focuses on Bitcoin, Ethereum, altcoins, and decentralized finance, alongside market activity, protocol updates, and ecosystem trends. She closely tracks Layer 1 and Layer 2 projects, DeFi tokens, and key technical indicators to explain market movements and on-chain activity with clarity and accuracy for both new and experienced readers.
