Bitcoin miners face tough 2028 halving profits, as mining companies deploy AI infrastructure early to address the energy crisis

Bitcoin mining companies are facing a serious test of steadily thinning profit margins and tight electricity supply. In the 2028 Bitcoin halving cycle, the block subsidy will fall from 3.1 BTC to 1.5 BTC. The largest miners will substantially sell off Bitcoin to maintain a balanced asset-liability position, shifting the industry’s operating strategy toward strengthening capital management and deploying artificial-intelligence infrastructure with flexible switching capabilities.

Bitcoin miners adjust their balance sheets early

To cope with the tight profit margins after the 2028 halving, miners are adjusting their financial structure and capital ahead of time. Data shows that in March, MARA Holdings sold more than 15,000 BTC Bitcoins to reduce leverage. Operators such as Riot Platforms and Cango also repay debts by trimming inventory assets. Bitdeer’s report indicates that as of the end of February, its Bitcoin holdings had fallen to zero, showing that companies are converting digital assets into liquid funds to meet capital expenditures for hardware upgrades and electricity contract costs. GoMining CEO Mark Zalan said that in the current environment, the importance of capital management has surpassed the competition for hashrate, and future financial planning must clear stricter investment return thresholds.

Miners deploy diversified energy security configurations

Geopolitical turmoil and fuel price volatility make energy security a primary consideration for Bitcoin mining. Current industry trends show that miners not only seek low electricity prices, but also need to secure long-term energy supply across regions to diversify risk. Cango’s communications director Juliet Ye analyzed that the widening efficiency gap forces companies to undertake large-scale equipment upgrades. Providers with scalable and diversified operating capabilities will maintain competitiveness after the 2028 halving, while mid- and small-sized mining sites lacking diversified setups will face survival challenges. Despite the pressure, Stratum V2 mining pool CEO Alejandro de la Torre believes that the shift of hashrate hotspots and their redistribution help drive decentralization in the mining industry, creating new collaboration opportunities for mid-sized operators.

Miners shift to AI infrastructure with flexible switching

Due to the declining economic benefit of block rewards, operators are expanding their business scope into power dispatch and data center services. Through methods such as curtailment compensation, grid balancing services, and waste-heat recovery, mining sites are being transformed into multi-purpose infrastructure. Some operators have begun planning flexible-switching artificial-intelligence computing centers, using mining to fill underutilized infrastructure capacity while also handling high-performance computing (HPC) demand. Market estimates show that miners with high-performance computing contracts have a significantly higher price-to-earnings ratio (P/E Ratio) than pure-play miners, reflecting investors’ preference for operating models that generate multiple revenue streams.

The global regulatory environment is now fully shifting toward compliance. In the United States, specific rules have been established for custody of crypto assets; in the European Union, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations have been implemented; and in Hong Kong, both exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the derivatives market are being developed in parallel. A clear legal framework reduces the threshold for institutional capital to enter, but whether the expansion of capital markets will provide real support to Bitcoin prices remains to be seen. Looking back at the 2024 halving cycle, miners mainly benefited from the tailwind brought by rising market prices. However, in 2028, competitive advantage will belong to Bitcoin miners that can effectively manage debt, ensure long-term electricity supply, and build the ability to generate additional revenue.

This article Bitcoin miners face difficult 2028 halving profits; miners deploy AI infrastructure early to respond to the energy crisis first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.