Bitdeer secures $4.7B long-term data center lease in Norway (16 years), pivoting from bitcoin mining to AI colocation.

Bitdeer, a Bitcoin mining company, has signed a 16-year lease agreement valued at up to $4.7 billion to secure artificial intelligence and high-performance computing data center capacity. The move reflects a broader industry trend as crypto miners expand into AI infrastructure to capitalize on growing demand for computing power.

Under the agreement, Bitdeer will provide 121 megawatts of IT capacity at its Tydal, Norway data center to a tenant identified as a subsidiary of Volta Infra. The facility will be configured to support Nvidia GPU-based AI workloads. The company did not disclose the end tenant's identity, leaving unclear whether Volta is the end customer or an intermediary. Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Volta's $10 billion cloud contract is with Anthropic, which is backed by Nvidia.

The lease remains subject to customary closing conditions and is not yet effective. To secure the tenant's payment obligations, affiliates of JP Morgan and another unnamed global financial institution are expected to issue approximately $1.3 billion in letters of credit—a guarantee that protects the landlord's ability to recover funds if the tenant defaults on contractual payments.

News of the agreement drove Bitdeer shares up approximately 8% in early Nasdaq trading, suggesting investors welcomed the company's continued expansion into AI infrastructure and data centers.

Bitdeer has steadily diversified beyond its core Bitcoin mining business to broaden its revenue base. In addition to expanding into AI and high-performance computing infrastructure, the company has increased its mining hardware manufacturing operations to reduce reliance on third-party suppliers. Last month, Bitdeer announced a $36 million investment in a manufacturing facility in Nevada to support this strategy.

The company has taken a markedly different approach from many publicly traded mining peers by fully liquidating its Bitcoin treasury. In early February, Bitdeer held approximately 943 BTC before announcing it had reduced holdings to zero, while maintaining that it remains committed to the Bitcoin ecosystem. According to Bitdeer executive Ross Gann, the sales were made to fund the company's broader expansion strategy, including acquisitions of powered land for AI and Bitcoin mining infrastructure. By contrast, several major Bitcoin miners continue to maintain substantial treasuries: MARA Holdings, Riot Platforms, CleanSpark, and Hut 8 each hold at least 10,000 BTC, with MARA's holdings exceeding 36,000 BTC.