A new rift is opening up in the Bitcoin mining debate as AI data centers emerge as a richer consumer of electricity than traditional miners. But the argument about whether that volatility threatens Bitcoin’s long-term security is drawing back market and energy experts who say the headline claim misses how the mining economy actually works.
The flashpoint came from Crypto Banter founder Ran Neuner, who created the issue in a very clear way. “AI killed Bitcoin forever. It became the biggest competition for Bitcoin mining. Not another crypto. AI,” he wrote in X, arguing that both sectors are chasing the same scarce input: energy.
Neuner’s basic figures are simple and provocative. He said that BTC miners make about $57 to $129 in revenue per megawatt, while AI data centers can make $200 to $500 per megawatt for that same gas.
“This is why miners are starting to pivot,” he wrote, pointing to Core Scientific’s AI hosting deal, Hut 8’s $7 billion AI infrastructure deal, and Cipher Mining’s decision to cut its hashrate by 51% to focus on AI compute. From there, he pushed an important question: if AI becomes the highest bidder for power, what happens to Bitcoin?
That framework is popular because it captures the real thing: miners no longer compete only with other miners. In certain markets, they compete with the demand for hyperscale-style computing that can support a very high revenue profile. For listed mining companies, especially those that already have electricity infrastructure in place, the temptation to reap the benefits of AI is obvious.
Why AI Won’t Kill Bitcoin Mining
But on-chain analyst Willy Woo argued that Neuner’s conclusion confuses miners’ competition with economics at the network level. “What the BTC network is willing to pay for its security is set by the value of BTC and network usage,” Woo wrote. “The price of electricity is not important, that only affects the competition between miners. Learn to adjust the difficulty of BTC – it is the basic foundation for understanding BTC.”
That is the main denial. Bitcoin does not require every miner to always be profitable at every price of electricity. It fixes it. If the operators with the highest costs go down because the AI overpowers them, the mining difficulty can drop, allowing the remaining miners to continue operating under the new equilibrium. In Woo’s reading, AI may reorganize who mines and where, but it doesn’t automatically “kill” Bitcoin unless it permanently breaks the relationship between price, usage, and the network’s security budget.
Climate capitalist Daniel Batten pushed back, calling the theory “nonsense” and arguing that the relationship could go in the other direction. “It’s the other way around: the evidence tells us that AI depends on Bitcoin to grow,” he wrote. “For example, bitcoin mining can be used alongside AI with strategic advantages including monetizing power during the construction of an AI datacenter, using previously purchased power that would otherwise be wasted, [and] smoothing AI load demand patterns. “
Be very skeptical of any claims like “Bitcoin mining is unprofitable beyond the limit” or “AI is killing Bitcoin”.
Not only is it more nuanced than that, but research tells us that AI datacenters are more in need of Bitcoin mining (see 7. below)
For example
1. In… pic.twitter.com/G5UvbTUmCc— Daniel Batten (@DSBatten) March 15, 2026
Batten’s broader point is that blanket claims about mining profits make the business more diverse in terms of ideas and sources of income. He pointed out that miners in high-cost regions can still work because heat recycling can be the main source of income and BTC is a byproduct. Others own incrementally generating assets, mine for short-term power, or extract captive energy from oil, gas, and landfills at about 1 percent per kilowatt-hour for higher capex. Demand response programs, FCAS, RECs, and carbon credits can continue to change the economy.
He also emphasized that negative energy prices at a time of renewable surpluses are creating an opening that the usual “AI beats mining” comparison fails to capture. “Be very skeptical of any claims like ‘Bitcoin mining is unprofitable beyond the limit’ or ‘AI is killing Bitcoin’,” Batten wrote. “Not only is it more complicated than that, but research tells us that AI datacenters are more in need of Bitcoin mining.”
At press time, BTC traded at $73,329.
The featured image was created with DALL.E, a chart from TradingView.com
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