Simply put
- Shares of KEEL Infrastructure (KEEL) and Hive Digital Technologies (HIVE) surged on Wednesday.
- Both companies shared news about their evolving AI initiatives, moving away from Bitcoin mining.
- Bitcoin is currently trading around $79,000, reflecting a 4% increase over the last 24 hours.
Stocks of KEEL and HIVE, which have shifted focus from being Bitcoin miners to AI-driven data center firms, saw notable gains on Wednesday following announcements about their new AI strategies.
KEEL, previously known as BitFarms, successfully sold its mining site in Paraguay for $13 million, continuing its transition away from mining significant cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, Hive completed a private placement of $115 million in convertible notes, with plans to invest in GPUs and develop new data centers.
The CEO of KEEL, Ben Gagnon, mentioned that the sale would eliminate any “non-core assets to manage or sell.” While the company initially predicted earnings of up to $30 million from the deal, they ultimately closed with approximately 56% less profit.
Gagnon noted, “The price adjustment reflects the current state of the Bitcoin mining economy, and our overall stance hasn’t changed. We’ve moved our estimated cash and prepayment free cash flow projection forward by about two to three years given the market conditions.”
He further added that the funding will be immediately directed towards enhancing their HPC/AI initiatives, where they expect to see better returns and generate more value for shareholders as they focus on AI development in North America.
Both KEEL and Hive have actively pursued their AI business expansion in the last six months. Hive partnered with computer manufacturer Dell to enhance AI efforts through its subsidiary, Buzz, in November. Although the stock has faced declines since then, it has rebounded by over 31% in recent trading, currently sitting at $2.66, an increase of more than 7% for the day.
In contrast, KEEL has experienced an even greater rise, gaining over 40% in the past month and currently trading around $3.06, with a 9% boost on Wednesday alone.
As for Bitcoin, the primary cryptocurrency that these companies are distancing themselves from, it has risen 4% in the past 24 hours, trading at about $79,000. This price is still nearly 37% below its all-time high of $126,080, achieved in October.
