A former bitcoin mining site in South Carolina is on track to become an AI data center. AIB Data Centers signed a 12-year deal with cloud company Nebius for 50 megawatts of computing capacity. The deal shows where bitcoin mining money is heading as miners’ profits shrink. The project still needs local approval, and that approval is not guaranteed.
By Michael Nguyen | October 31, 2026
The Hook: A Mine Gets a Second Life
Think of a bitcoin mine as a warehouse full of powerful computers that burn electricity to earn new coins. Now imagine the owner finds a tenant who will pay more for the same electricity and the same building. That is the story here.
According to a report published October 29, AIB Data Centers (listed on NYSE American) signed a Master Colocation Services Agreement with Nebius, an Amsterdam-based AI cloud provider listed on Nasdaq. “Colocation” means Nebius will rent space and power in AIB’s building for its own AI machines. The agreement was first announced on September 30, 2026, so the October 29 report follows up on a deal that is a month old.
What it means for your portfolio: if you own bitcoin, this is a small but real signal. Some of the machines that protect the network are leaving. If you own shares in a mining company, it shows how some of them are trying to survive.
The Evidence: What the Deal Actually Says
The terms below come from the company’s SEC filing, as reported by TFTC.
- 50 megawatts of AI computing capacity, split into two 25-megawatt halls
- 12-year term, with two five-year renewal options
- Target completion in the fourth quarter of 2027. The first hall is due about 10 months after signing and the second about 14 months after
- Location: AIB’s CLT1 campus in Moore, South Carolina, in Spartanburg County, on roughly 16 acres
- Power: AIB already holds a 15-year, 65-megawatt electric service agreement, so no major grid upgrades are expected
- Financing: Nebius prepayments, project-level debt and preferred equity. No new common stock is expected, and no dollar figures were disclosed
The site began as a bitcoin mining data center in 2022. Its mining rigs were still running earlier in 2026 before being shut down. The mining containers will be replaced with a standalone data center building.
Nebius executive Andrey Korolenko said, “Time-to-power is the binding constraint on AI infrastructure today.” In plain English, AI companies cannot find enough electricity fast enough. A site that already has power lined up is valuable. AIB CEO Jerry Tang called the signing “a transformational milestone for AIB.”
The Core Conflict: Local Pushback Could Slow It Down
The deal is not finished. Spartanburg County voted 5-1 on September 21, 2026 for a one-year moratorium (a temporary pause) on new data centers. The pause exempts facilities of 65 megawatts or less on former industrial sites. AIB’s project is 50 megawatts, so it appears to fall inside that exemption.
Even so, on October 19 the county council postponed its vote on AIB’s development agreement. Members want to review plans for noise, lighting and landscaping. As of October 29, the agreement had neither been approved nor denied. Councilmember Grant DeShields said the changing of the moratorium language “had a lot to do with postponing the AIB and the Valara.”
AIB also abandoned a separate, larger project in the same industrial park in February 2026. That history is a reminder that these projects can stall.
For everyday readers, the lesson is simple. A signed contract is not the same as a finished building. Investors in data center and mining stocks should watch local votes as closely as they watch earnings.
Market Implications: Why Miners Keep Looking Elsewhere
The pull toward AI comes from a squeeze on mining income. Miners earn a set amount of bitcoin for their work, and “hashprice” measures how much that work pays per unit of computing power each day. Startmining data cited by Cryptonews put hashprice near 33 USD per petahash per day, its weakest level since August. Hashrate Index data cited by Yahoo Finance showed about 36 USD on October 25. The two sources differ slightly, but both point to thinner profits.
Bitcoin was trading near 77,000 USD in the latest market snapshot, down about 2 percent over 24 hours. When coin prices dip while competition among miners stays high, older and less efficient operations feel it first.
AI tenants offer something miners rarely get: long, predictable contracts. Other miners have signed similar deals this year. Riot reportedly signed a 20-year lease for a Texas data center with an AI company. TeraWulf reportedly committed to a 20-year, 401-megawatt lease with Anthropic. Hut 8 announced a 9.8 billion USD data center agreement in May.
AI stocks are not risk-free, though. On October 29, IREN fell about 6 percent and Cipher Digital about 5 percent after Alphabet’s heavy AI spending rattled data center stocks, according to 24/7 Wall St. Moving from mining to AI swaps one volatile business for another.
What This Means For You
- If you hold bitcoin: one mine leaving does not threaten the network. Still, watch whether more miners follow, because mining is what secures bitcoin.
- If you own miner stocks: ask whether the company has AI contracts or relies only on coin prices. Contracts bring steadier income, but they also bring construction and approval risk.
- If you stake or mine at home: thin profits mean you should check your electricity costs before buying new equipment.
The Verdict
The AIB and Nebius deal fits a clear pattern. Miners with cheap, ready power are finding that AI companies will pay for it. This site’s switch is real but unfinished. The county has not signed off, no financial terms are public, and the first hall is not due until about 10 months after signing. Treat it as a trend marker, not a done deal. The next signal is the Spartanburg County council’s rescheduled vote.
The cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
50 megawatts split into two 25MW halls for a 12 year term is a better contract than any bitcoin mining revenue stream on earth right now. nebius is basically paying a fixed subscription for power that used to chase block rewards. miners saw this coming from a mile away
watt_trent agreed on the economics but nebius is a nasdaq-listed company taking colocation space in someone else building rather than building their own. that smells like they want capacity fast without capex, which means the 5 year renewal options are the real deal here, not year one
colocation is the tell. building a datacenter takes 3 years, leasing mining halls takes months. whether the county says yes decides if this deal is real or just a press release with a render
the two 25MW halls point is underrated. nebu gets capacity in months not years and AIB gets a tenant with actual balance sheet. everyone dunking on miners misses that they already own the interconnect, thats the moat
50 megawatts to Nebius on a 12 year deal. thats ai money doing what mining money cant anymore, margins on hashing just arent there
The county hasn’t even said yes yet. These AI conversion announcements keep skipping over the part where local zoning can kill the whole thing.
the county part is the real story, everyone celebrating the nebius deal like its done. one zoning meeting and its back to square one
worth remembering the county has not approved anything yet. these conversions get killed at zoning meetings by people who moved next to an industrial site and then decided the noise was a problem. aib announcing this before the vote reads like pressure tactics
Orin is right about the pressure tactics read. announcing a signed Nebius deal before the county vote is how you make a no vote expensive. South Carolina county commissions have folded under exactly this kind of framing before
the zoning fight writes itself. same county that welcomed the mining tax revenue will discover noise and water concerns the second the tenant changes. watch the county commission minutes not the press releases
50MW for 12 years beats mining revenue but check what happens to the rest of the site. conversions that keep half the floor hashing are hedging, conversions that go all in on AI believe their own thesis
megawatt_math nah the all-in conversions are the honest ones. half hashing half AI means you think mining margins come back and they wont at these difficulty levels