Riot signs $9.1 billion Anthropic deal

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  August 11, 2026 at 18:37  |  2:34  |  CNBC
Speakers
Kelly Evans — Anchor, The Exchange (CNBC)
Tanaya Macheel — Markets and Investing Reporter, CNBC

Summary

CNBC's Tanaya Macheel discusses Bitcoin miners pivoting to AI compute, highlighted by Riot's $9 billion deal with Anthropic. She notes the massive opportunity for miners and the cyclical outlook for Bitcoin, which remains stuck but could see a bull market by year-end based on four-year cycles.

  • Bitcoin miners are increasingly pivoting to AI data center operations.
  • Riot Platforms signed a $9B, 20-year compute deal with Anthropic.
  • The AI boom presents a much bigger opportunity for miners than pure Bitcoin mining.
  • Riot was formerly a pure-play miner but is now embracing AI, joining hybrid miners.
  • Bitcoin price is stuck despite more institutional buy-in and Washington support.
  • Clarity Act progress has stalled, removing a key catalyst.
  • Bitcoin's four-year cycle suggests a potential bull market late in the year.
  • Iren, TeraWulf, Cipher, Hut 8 are named as part of this crypto-to-AI pivot.
Ideas
Kelly Evans Anchor, The Exchange (CNBC) 0:09
Crypto miners pivoting to AI is massive
Bitcoin miners Iren, TeraWulf, Cipher, Hut 8, and Riot are all part of a massive crypto-to-AI pivot, transitioning from pure mining to data center operators amid the AI boom. The trend is lifting these stocks, with Riot shares moving higher on its Anthropic deal.
IREN WULF HUT CIFR MED
Kelly Evans Anchor, The Exchange (CNBC) 0:09
Crypto miners pivoting to AI is massive
Riot Platform's $9 billion, 20-year compute deal with Anthropic and earlier AMD deal mark its shift from pure-play Bitcoin mining to a hybrid AI miner. This opens a much bigger opportunity amid the AI boom, makes it more resilient in a Bitcoin price slump, and is positive for investors in that cohort.
RIOT MED
Tanaya Macheel Markets and Investing Reporter, CNBC 2:03
Bitcoin cycle hints at year-end bull
Bitcoin has more institutional buy-in and Washington sign-off, but price is stuck and the Clarity Act catalyst has stalled. However, following the four-year cycle, a bull market could arrive by the end of this year, with October historically favored by Bitcoiners.
BTC MED
Up Next
4:16
Robinhood Sees More Flows Into Bitcoin ETFs
Bloomberg Markets · Aug 11
4:17
eToro CEO: Customers are using AI agents to trade 24/7 in their accounts
CNBC · Aug 11
4:32
GXO CEO Patrick Kelleher: Data centers are a big business, and they’re growing for us
CNBC · Aug 11
4:37
Bessemer’s Deeter on Nvidia's $500 billion Wall Street deal: ‘A great maturation of the ecosystem’
CNBC · Aug 11
41:44
Squawk Pod: Nvidia’s investable chips, the VA Governor, & AI gone rogue - 08/11/26 | Audio Only
CNBC · Aug 11

This CNBC video, published August 11, 2026, features Kelly Evans, Tanaya Macheel discussing IREN, WULF, HUT, CIFR, RIOT, BTC. 3 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Kelly Evans, Tanaya Macheel  · Tickers: IREN, WULF, HUT, CIFR, RIOT, BTC