Riot sold $1.5 billion of bitcoin to build AI data centers

A big bitcoin miner is turning its coins into construction money. Riot Platforms sold 20,264 bitcoin in the first nine months of 2026 for about $1.5 billion, "primarily to fund data center development," and ended September with 2,418 bitcoin left, its Nov. 4 filing shows [2]. The same day it announced a 15-year lease of its entire Corsicana, Texas, campus to an artificial-intelligence lab it did not name, worth about $28 billion over the initial term, by Riot's count [2].

The mechanism

Riot made its name mining bitcoin: running warehouses of specialized computers that earn new coins for securing the network. Mining runs on cheap power, and the same sites, substations and grid connections are what AI companies now want for their own computers. Riot is renting that power-ready land to them.

The Corsicana deal is a "triple-net powered land lease," which means Riot delivers the land and the electrical infrastructure, and the tenant brings, owns and runs its own computers and pays substantially all operating costs, including power [2]. It covers 910 megawatts of "critical IT" capacity, the electricity available to run the tenant's servers. Riot puts the contract at about $28 billion over 15 years, or about $1.8 billion of average annual rent, and about $54 billion if both five-year extension options are exercised [2]. Rent is payable on the full 910 megawatts "irrespective of utilization" [2].

Building it takes cash first. Riot puts the capital cost at $6 million per megawatt, or $5.5 billion in all. Riot pays $2 million per megawatt for site work and electrical gear, and reimburses the tenant for the other $4 million in phases, after each phase is delivered and paying rent [2]. Delivery is set for 400 megawatts in September 2027, 200 in January 2028 and 310 in July 2028 [2]. Riot says it sold this year's bitcoin "primarily to fund data center development," and expects to pay its share of the Corsicana cost from existing liquidity [2]. Riot also repaid and ended a $200 million credit facility with Coinbase, "releasing all pledged bitcoin," and says it raised no equity in 2026 [2].

The evidence

Source: Riot Platforms Form 8-K, Ex. 99.1, Nov. 4, 2026 [2]. Table: Le Coin.

By Le Coin's arithmetic on those lines, Riot sold about 8.4 bitcoin this year for every one it still held at quarter-end. It ended September with $950.2 million in cash and bitcoin, including $748.2 million of cash, $79.2 million of it restricted [2].

The mining business itself shrank in dollars while producing more coins.

Source: Riot Platforms Form 8-K, Ex. 99.1, Nov. 4, 2026 [2]. The release gives no Data Center figure for 2025; the 2025 lines shown add to $179.9 million of the $180.2 million total. Table: Le Coin.

Riot produced 1,637 bitcoin in the quarter, up 16% from 1,406, but mining revenue fell to $116.0 million from $160.8 million because Riot's stated average bitcoin price for the quarter was $70,855, against $114,361 a year earlier [2]. Its cost to mine one coin, excluding the depreciation of its machines, fell to $39,265 from $46,324, helped by $24.7 million of power curtailment credits, money Riot earns by pausing its machines and reselling power it has contracted for [2]. Riot's presentation puts its all-in power cost for the quarter at 3.2 cents per kilowatt-hour [3]. Data Center revenue of $18.4 million came from the first full quarter of 25 megawatts delivered to chipmaker AMD [2]. With AMD and an earlier lease to the same AI lab at its Rockdale site, Riot says it has now leased 1,151 megawatts for about $38 billion of contracted revenue [2].

Riot reported third-quarter net income of $4.0 million, down from $104.5 million a year earlier, and a net loss of $733.6 million for the first nine months of 2026, against net income of $27.6 million a year earlier [2].

Riot also finished moving its coins to a new custodian, the firm that holds them in storage. Its agreement with NYDIG Trust ended automatically on Oct. 29 when the transfer to BitGo Bank & Trust was completed, with no early-termination penalty [1]. Le Coin covered the switch when Riot announced it on Oct. 14 (Riot Platforms Moves Crypto Custody From NYDIG to BitGo Bank).

The objection

Riot still mines bitcoin: it produced more coins than a year ago and cut its cost per coin [2]. The Corsicana rent doesn't start until the first powered phase is delivered in 2027 [2]. Hut 8, another miner, also reported selling bitcoin today, to fund share buybacks rather than construction [4].

The contract figures are Riot's own. The tenant is unnamed, the $28 billion runs over 15 years and the reimbursements to the tenant are expected to be funded with project debt; if that financing isn't available on comparable terms, the tenant funds them and recovers the money as a credit against rent [2].

The tell (Le Coin's view)

In Le Coin's view, Riot's balance sheet now tells the story better than its mining numbers. A company that sold 20,264 bitcoin this year has 2,418 left, and it has leased its whole Corsicana campus to a single unnamed tenant for 15 years. The dates that matter now are the deliveries in 2027 and 2028, and whether rent starts when Riot says it will.

Sources

• [1] Riot Platforms, Inc., Form 8-K, Items 1.02, 2.02 and 9.01, accession 0001104659-26-122368, accepted Nov. 4, 2026, 7:30 a.m. ET, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1167419/000110465926122368/riot-20261029x8k.htm ; accessed 8:18 a.m. ET Nov. 4.
• [2] Riot Platforms, Inc., Exhibit 99.1, "Riot Platforms Reports Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results and Strategic Highlights," Nov. 4, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1167419/000110465926122368/riot-ex99d1.htm ; accessed 8:18 a.m. ET Nov. 4.
• [3] Riot Platforms, Inc., Exhibit 99.2, Q3 2026 earnings presentation, Nov. 4, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1167419/000110465926122368/riot-ex99d2.htm ; accessed 8:18 a.m. ET Nov. 4.
• [4] Hut 8 Corp., Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K, accession 0001104659-26-122347, "Hut 8 Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results," Nov. 4, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1964789/000110465926122347/tm2628741d1_ex99-1.htm ; accessed 7:18 a.m. ET Nov. 4.

Holding the Corner.

Not financial advice.