Riot Platforms finalized leases for 241 megawatts of new AI data center capacity, locking in approximately $9.8 billion in contracted revenue as it aggressively transitions from crypto mining to AI compute hosting.
Riot Platforms has secured AI data center leases totaling 241 MW of critical IT capacity with two major technology clients, representing approximately $9.8 billion in long-term contracted revenue. The agreements accelerate the company’s strategic shift from a primarily Bitcoin-mining operation to a large-scale data center developer.
The larger agreement is a newly executed 191 MW build-to-suit lease at Riot’s Rockdale campus with a leading frontier AI laboratory. The initial 20-year term extends through June 2048 and is projected to generate approximately $9.1 billion in contracted revenue.
The financial outlook could expand significantly if the tenant exercises the agreement’s extension options. The contract includes two five-year renewal clauses that would raise the total potential value to approximately $16.1 billion upon full exercise.
Riot projects that the initial term will yield between $7.3 billion and $8.2 billion in cumulative net operating income (NOI), averaging $365 million to $411 million annually. The first 96 MW phase is slated for delivery in December 2027, with the complete 191 MW facility scheduled for deployment by June 2028.
Morgan Stanley is providing a $573 million interim financing facility to cover early development costs while Riot finalizes an investment-grade credit backstop. This structure is designed to fund construction of the Rockdale project without depleting the company’s existing liquidity.
The Rockdale deal follows Riot’s prior lease agreement with AMD. During Q2, Riot successfully delivered the initial 25 MW AMD deployment on schedule and within budget, transitioning the facility to recurring lease revenue at its full initial capacity. An additional 25 MW is currently under construction, comprising a 10 MW phase targeted for November 2026 and a 15 MW phase scheduled for May 2027.
The data center segment is already contributing to reported financials. Riot recorded $23.2 million in Q2 data center revenue, broken down into $4.9 million from operating leases and $18.3 million from tenant fit-out services tied to the initial AMD deployment.
This growth in data center and engineering revenue coincides with a decline in traditional mining operations. Bitcoin mining revenue decreased to $113.7 million from $140.9 million, while engineering revenue surged to $37.3 million from $10.6 million. Total quarterly revenue rose 14% to $174.2 million, up from $153 million.
Riot closed Q2 with over $1.2 billion in liquid assets, comprising 11,380 BTC valued at approximately $666 million and $548.9 million in cash, including $77.5 million in restricted funds. This strengthened balance sheet provides additional capital to fund the company’s expanding AI infrastructure pipeline.
The gap between Riot’s current data center earnings and its contracted pipeline remains significant. While only $23.2 million in quarterly data center revenue has hit the income statement, the two signed AI tenants now secure approximately $9.8 billion in contracted revenue across 241 MW of capacity currently under development.
“Today’s announcement of a landmark 20-year, 191-megawatt data center lease with a leading frontier AI lab marks a defining moment in our evolution into a leading developer of large-scale data centers. It builds directly on a strong second quarter, in which we completed delivery of the initial 25 megawatts to AMD on time and on budget. In just over six months, Riot has now executed leases totaling 241 megawatts of capacity, representing approximately $9.8 billion of long-term, contracted revenue with two of the most important companies in the AI ecosystem.”
“Our platform stands apart through three elements working together: multi-gigawatt-scale power capacity that is already fully approved and energized, in-house data center development expertise, and the ability to engineer custom infrastructure for computing’s most demanding workloads. With all three, and the financial resources to deploy them already secured, we are positioned to convert strong market demand from high-quality tenants into compounding shareholder value.”
Jason Les, Chief Executive Officer of Riot Platforms