Riot Platforms could generate between $9 billion and $21 billion in equity value from its artificial intelligence and high-performance computing expansion, according to activist shareholder Starboard Value.
In a letter to executives on Wednesday, Starboard, which holds about 12.7 million Riot shares, urged the company to accelerate its pivot away from pure crypto mining and secure more material AI and HPC deals.
“Time is of the essence,”
Said Starboard, adding that:
“With 1.4 gigawatts of gross capacity remaining to be monetised, Riot is in an enviable position – but it must execute with excellence and urgency.”
Starboard said Riot should be able to attract high-quality tenants for tier-3 data centres on terms comparable to or better than peer transactions announced in late 2025, pointing to its Corsicana and Rockdale, Texas sites where low energy costs and favourable regulations support operations.
“The recently announced transaction with Advanced Micro Devices… is a positive signal and confirms our views regarding the intrinsic value of Riot’s key sites, but it is a small proof of concept deal, and we, like you, expect significantly more,”
Said Starboard, and following the update Riot’s share price was up almost 6% at the Nasdaq market open.
The push into AI and HPC reflects a broader shift among crypto miners facing rising bitcoin mining difficulty and higher costs, with companies including CleanSpark, MARA Holdings, Core Scientific, Hut 8 and TeraWulf repurposing infrastructure for data centre workloads.
Cango also recently sold $305 million worth of bitcoin to help fund its own AI and HPC expansion, underlining how miners are increasingly seeking diversified revenue streams beyond digital asset extraction.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $66,669.34.