"Core Scientific expects to sell more than 2,500 bitcoins in Q1 2026…expanding AI infrastructure"

Core Scientific, a US-listed mining company, is reportedly planning to sell a large portion of its bitcoin (BTC) holdings in the first quarter to fund an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

According to The Energy Mix, an overseas business and economics outlet, Core Scientific said in a recently filed annual report that it expects to sell most of its bitcoin holdings during the first quarter of 2026. The company explained: "This may vary depending on market conditions, but we plan to convert a significant portion to cash to secure liquidity and fund capital expenditures (capex)."

As of December 31 last year, Core Scientific held 2,537 bitcoins, with a book value of about $222 million. This is a sharp increase from 256 at the end of 2024. All of the holdings were acquired through self-mining.

The company has largely held on to the bitcoin it mined, even as it expanded investment in AI- and high-performance computing (HPC)-related infrastructure, including its high-density colocation (managed server hosting) business, over the past year. As a result, its bitcoin holdings have risen by nearly 10x over the past year.

However, a shift in strategy is emerging this year. In the report, the company said: "We expect to monetize most of our bitcoin holdings during 2026, taking market conditions into account," adding that it would "strengthen liquidity and fund planned capital expenditures and other cash needs."

Some other publicly listed miners have also been actively selling their bitcoin holdings as they pivot toward AI.

According to the outlet, Cango recently sold about 4,451 bitcoins to raise $305 million, while Bitdeer disclosed that it had reduced its bitcoin inventory to "0." Riot also said it sold 5,363 bitcoins last year, raising about $535.5 million.