Artificial intelligence is creating a new class of infrastructure giants virtually overnight, and one innovative Bitcoin miner that made an early leap into the global power business, feeding the voracious appetite of AI data centers, is now being rewarded for years spent securing massive amounts of low-cost electrical power around the world.
Years before artificial intelligence triggered a global race for power capacity, Bitzero Holdings (NASDAQ: AIBZ) was using cash flow from Bitcoin mining operations to secure large amounts of low-cost electrical power across Norway, Finland, and the United States.
The company continues mining Bitcoin because the business generates strong cash flow at some of the lowest power costs in the industry. But Bitzero’s sights are now set on a much larger prize: the AI data-center buildout that McKinsey estimates could require nearly $7 trillion in global infrastructure spending by 2030, including roughly $5.2 trillion tied directly to AI workloads alone.
That prize started becoming reality on May 5, when Bitzero signed a binding letter of intent with OneQode Networks covering the full 110 MW capacity of its Namsskogan, Norway data center site under a 15-year lease tied to GPU-based AI workloads. The agreement carries an implied value of roughly $2.6 billion over the lease term, and marks Bitzero’s formal entry into the large-scale AI data-center infrastructure market.
That’s exactly why Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary was one of Bitzero’s earliest, and biggest backers.
O’Leary has taken on a strategic investor role in the company since its formation because he sees Bitzero as a fundamentally different kind of crypto enterprise—one rooted in energy infrastructure, not just speculation, and the data-center boom.
“If I want exposure to crypto, I only need three positions now … I own Bitzero because they mine Bitcoin and they’re actually a power company.”
The Nordic Advantage in the AI Energy Race
If cheap power built Bitcoin’s first fortune in China, clean power is building the next one in the North Atlantic.
Norway and Finland, home to immense hydroelectric and nuclear baseloads, have quietly become the new gravity centers for digital infrastructure.
This is the place to be for the AI infrastructure boom. Power prices across parts of the Nordic region are significantly below many major European markets. And, crucially, hydroelectric- and nuclear-heavy grids provide the kind of stable long-duration electricity AI workloads demand. Cold climates also drastically reduce cooling costs for data centers.
That’s the geography of Bitzero’s expansion strategy.
In Norway, the company’s flagship Namsskogan operation already supports active Bitcoin mining and is now becoming the foundation for its AI infrastructure business following the OneQode agreement earlier this month.
Bitzero also controls additional Norwegian expansion capacity tied to a broader development pipeline that management says could eventually scale well beyond 300 MW as grid upgrades continue.
In Finland, Bitzero has secured a massive one-gigawatt development campus in Kokemäki tied directly into low-cost Nordic power infrastructure. The site gives the company room to scale both Bitcoin mining and AI compute operations over time as demand for energized capacity continues accelerating across Europe.
In the United States, Bitzero’s (NASDAQ: AIBZ) North Dakota footprint gives the company exposure to a completely different energy and regulatory market. The site includes a 225,000-square-foot complex spread across roughly 184 acres, with additional staged power delivery planned through future expansion agreements.
What the May 5th Lease Deal Means for Bitzero
McKinsey estimates AI infrastructure spending could approach $7 trillion globally by 2030, including more than $5 trillion tied directly to AI workloads. But that spending wave could hit a power wall as the industry discovers that building AI infrastructure isn’t just a money problem—it’s a power access problem.
The OneQode agreement officially ushers Bitzero into the lucrative world of data center power.
Now, instead of relying on Bitcoin-related mining economics, the company is moving toward a much bigger piece of the digital world. And it’s a double win for the company.
In Bitcoin mining, Bitzero uses its own electricity to generate revenue from the Bitcoin it produces. Under the AI agreement, Bitzero will generate revenue by leasing the site’s power capacity and infrastructure to OneQode the lease is to be backed by an IG counterparty as per the conditions of the binding letter. But at the same time, OneQode pays the electricity bill tied to running the AI systems inside the facility. That means Bitzero captures the recurring infrastructure revenue from the site without directly absorbing the massive ongoing power costs associated with operating large-scale AI workloads.
That places Bitzero at an advantage to its peers, based on internal company research.
According to management, the OneQode agreement is structured at roughly $135 per kilowatt per month with a 3% annual escalator. At full utilization, the 110 MW Namsskogan site could generate roughly $176 million to $178 million in annual revenue. A recent shareholder analysis modeling the agreement estimated potential annual NOI of roughly $151 million based on an 85% margin profile tied to the contemplated lease structure.
The Bigger Game At the Margins of the Data Center Boom
Across Europe and North America, AI infrastructure developers are running into transformer shortages, interconnection delays, grid congestion, and multi-year energization timelines. Many competing campuses are still years away from delivery because securing large-scale power infrastructure has become harder than securing capital.
That shift is one reason public markets have started aggressively rerating companies capable of converting mining infrastructure into AI compute capacity.
Most recently, Hut 8 moved into AI infrastructure through its Fluidstack agreement, while Core Scientific secured multi-billion-dollar HPC contracts tied to CoreWeave. Investors are increasingly valuing these companies around contracted compute infrastructure and energized capacity rather than hash rate growth alone.
The capital is simply following the soaring demand.
The market has already begun rewarding companies positioned to benefit from the power demands of artificial intelligence. Investors have poured capital into names such as NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE), whose vast renewable generation portfolio is increasingly viewed as critical to supporting future data-center growth, Brookfield Corporation (NYSE: BN), which has built a global infrastructure empire spanning energy, transmission, and digital assets, and Edison International (NYSE: EIX), whose utility network stands to benefit from the enormous grid upgrades required to accommodate AI-driven electricity demand. The common thread is simple: as AI accelerates, access to reliable power is becoming one of the most valuable assets in the digital economy.
Commercial real estate giant JLL estimates global data-center capacity will nearly double by 2030, requiring almost 100 GW of new supply. Now, the single most important factor driving data-center expansion is “speed to power”, says JLL.
And with grid connection wait times in major markets already stretching beyond four years, Bitzero is ahead of its time, and the May 5th lease deal locks in a new era for this Bitcoin innovator, backed by O’Leary and charging out of the AI power gate.
By. Michael Kern
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