Shares of bitcoin miner Hut 8 (HUT) <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/HUT/" target="_blank">jumped nearly 12%</a> in pre-market trading amid social media speculation that it is building a data center with Facebook owner Meta Platforms (META).
The shares climbed to just under $30 as of 10:00 UTC. The <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/WGMI/" target="_blank">CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF</a> (WGMI), which offers broad exposure to the BTC mining sector, rose about 3% higher.
Neither Miami, Fla.-based Hut nor Menlo Park, Calif.-based Meta has announced a partnership.
Hut 8 is <a href="https://louisianaradionetwork.com/2024/12/09/data-center-coming-to-west-feliciana-parish/" target="_blank">building a data center</a> in West Feliciana Parish, La. at an initial cost of $12 billion, local media has reported.
Earlier this month, Meta said it was planning to build <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-invest-10-billion-louisiana-data-center-2024-12-04/" target="_blank">a $10 billion AI data center</a> in Richland Parish, La., Reuters reported.
There are similarities between bitcoin miners and AI data centers in the required equipment, computing power and energy to run it all. Some bitcoin miners <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/10/23/bitcoin-miners-are-pivoting-to-ai-to-survive-core-scientific-entered-the-race-years-ago" target="_blank">have been dedicating resources to AI computation to diversify</a> their revenue streams.
<a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/12/05/u-s-crypto-stocks-surge-in-pre-market-trading-as-bitcoin-tops-100-k" target="_blank">Hut 8</a> previously announced a $500 million at-the-market (ATM) offering and a $250 million stock-repurchase program. The company has said it mined <a href="https://hut8.com/2024/12/05/hut-8-operations-update-for-november-2024/" target="_blank">94 BTC in November</a>, a 6% month-on-month decrease. It holds <a href="https://bitcointreasuries.net/" target="_blank">9,122 BTC</a> ($921 million) on the balance sheet, the seventh-largest holder of bitcoin of any publicly traded company.
Neither company immediately responded to CoinDesk's request for comment.
Read More: <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/12/10/bitcoin-miners-cipher-clean-spark-and-maras-upgraded-at-jp-morgan" target="_blank">Bitcoin Miners Cipher, CleanSpark and MARA Upgraded at JPMorgan</a>
