Bernstein said it remains overweight on the Bitcoin mining sector, pointing to a growing series of partnerships involving Bitcoin mining companies that it says are needed to address power constraints facing artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

The investment manager's Bitcoin mining industry deal tracker recorded a new AI-related agreement every week in July, according to a Thursday research note shared with Cointelegraph. Bernstein said the combined deals now total more than 7.5 gigawatts, or the contracted equivalent of $150 billion in multi-year contracts.

The analysts said third-party computing capacity supplied by Bitcoin miners will continue to be highly valuable because access to power remains the AI industry's real bottleneck. Bitcoin mining facilities are typically built at sites with large-scale power infrastructure already in place — including substations, transformers, and high-voltage grid connections — making them attractive partners for AI developers facing multi-year wait times to bring new data centers online. They also cited increasing political pushback against the construction of new data centers in the United States.

Bitcoin mining stocks posted double-digit gains on Monday after Hut 8 and IREN announced major AI infrastructure agreements. Hut 8 announced a 15-year, $9.8 billion lease for its AI data center campus, while IREN disclosed $2.8 billion in cloud services contracts with AI developers.

"IREN is beginning to convert that infrastructure advantage into contracted and more predictable revenue," Seeking Alpha contributor The Curious Analyst said on Thursday. "The biggest risk to my thesis is execution," the contributor added. The Curious Analyst rates IREN as a strong buy.

July brings multiple AI and miner tie-ups

Other publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies have also been expanding into AI-related infrastructure. The pivot reflects a broader diversification strategy across the sector, as companies leverage existing power assets to tap into rapidly growing demand for AI computing capacity. Earlier in July, MARA Holdings announced plans to acquire a Texas site with up to 2 gigawatts of capacity as part of an expansion of its AI and digital infrastructure business.

Days earlier, TeraWulf signed a 20-year data center lease with AI startup Anthropic. The company said the agreement could generate roughly $19 billion in contract revenue.

Bitdeer, a Bitcoin mining infrastructure company, has also expanded into AI cloud services and high-performance computing.

Most Bitcoin mining stocks were positioned for gains on Thursday based on premarket activity. Hut 8 shares were up 5.23%, IREN was up 1.89% and TeraWulf was up 1.49%. The CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI), an exchange-traded fund tracking the sector, was up 1.47% before the Nasdaq open.

Bernstein has an outperform rating on all of the stocks it named, except MARA, which it rates as market perform.

AI data centers draw political scrutiny

Bernstein's research note said Bitcoin miners and third-party computing power providers are likely to remain important for AI companies as plans to build new data centers face growing bipartisan political resistance. Local opposition to new data center construction has centered on concerns over electricity consumption, water usage, and the allocation of grid capacity, which could further advantage existing mining sites that already hold power agreements and permitted infrastructure.

On Wednesday, Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico reportedly shared a proposal that would establish stronger local approval processes and repeal tax breaks for AI data centers.

In April, US Senator Ron Wyden raised concerns that AI data centers in his home state of Oregon could worsen water scarcity during persistent drought conditions. Wyden said large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day and asked major data center operators to explain how they would reduce groundwater withdrawals to protect local water supplies.

In March, President Donald Trump's administration published a Ratepayer Protection Pledge intended to support the expansion of AI infrastructure without increasing electricity bills for households and small businesses.

In January, several state governors released plans to expand the electric grid to meet rapidly growing demand from AI data centers. They also said new data centers should bear the costs they create, rather than shifting those costs to existing residential customers and small businesses.