Riot Platforms Bitcoin Sale: 10,599 BTC Sold for AI Lease
The Riot Platforms bitcoin sale is now the biggest by a public miner this year: 10,599 BTC sold in the third quarter, which left 2,418 BTC on the balance sheet. Riot says the cash funds a new 15-year AI lease in Texas. CoinGape and 24/7 Wall St. both report the same figures from Riot’s filing.
What the Riot Platforms bitcoin sale numbers show
Riot held 11,380 BTC at the end of June. In addition, it mined 1,637 BTC in the quarter and sold 10,599. Meanwhile, the arithmetic lands on 2,418 BTC, so the figures reconcile. Over the first nine months of 2026, Riot sold 20,264 BTC for about $1.5 billion, according to both outlets.
A note on the headline number. Some outlets say Riot “sold 79%” of its bitcoin. In fact, holdings fell about 79%. Measured against what Riot held in June, the 10,599 BTC sold is closer to 93%. Overall, we use the raw coin counts for that reason.
The Corsicana AI lease behind the Riot Platforms bitcoin sale
The money goes to a lease at Riot’s Corsicana campus in Texas. Likewise, both outlets describe 910 MW of IT capacity on a 15-year term. They value it at about $28 billion, which is roughly $1.8 billion a year on average. Also, the tenant is unnamed. Riot calls it a leading frontier AI lab. CoinGape reports a capital cost estimate of $5.5 billion and says Riot does not currently expect to issue equity.
Riot also reported $181.4 million of revenue for the quarter, up 1%. Mining revenue fell nearly 28% to $116 million. In addition, net income was about $4 million, against $104.5 million a year earlier. For our part, we only have these numbers second-hand. Meanwhile, we could not open Riot’s own release.
What the Riot Platforms bitcoin sale means for margins
Riot is not leaving mining overnight. Overall, it still runs machines. Even so, the direction is clear: its best use of power is now AI, not hashing. Likewise, we said something similar when Bernstein cut targets on the sector, in our Texas data center report.
Why the Riot Platforms bitcoin sale adds supply
A seller of 10,599 BTC is also supply. At about $80,000 per coin that is roughly $850 million of bitcoin, spread over three months. Also, the market absorbed it. Still, it shows that miners with AI options treat bitcoin as a funding source and not a savings account.
Miner math: what the Riot Platforms bitcoin sale means for your S19
Here is the live maths on November 4. In addition, bitcoin is $80,281 and the network is 1021 EH/s, so hashprice is about $35.58 per petahash per day. Meanwhile, that is what one PH/s of hashing earns before power.
| Machine | 5c/kWh | 8c/kWh | 12c/kWh | Break-even |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antminer S19 (95 TH/s, 3250 W) | -$0.52 | -$2.86 | -$5.98 | 4.3c |
| Antminer S19k Pro (115 TH/s, 2645 W) | $0.92 | -$0.99 | -$3.53 | 6.4c |
| Antminer S19 XP (141 TH/s, 3010 W) | $1.41 | -$0.76 | -$3.65 | 6.9c |
| Antminer S21 Pro (234 TH/s, 3510 W) | $4.11 | $1.59 | -$1.78 | 9.9c |
Numbers are profit per day after electricity, at the three power prices shown. Break-even is the most you can pay per kilowatt-hour before the machine loses money. Specs are the manufacturer ratings; network data comes from mempool.space. Try your own power price in our free bitcoin mining profit calculator. See what these machines really sold for in our used ASIC miner price index. Want to run the same numbers on a machine you can buy today? See our used ASIC miners, or buy several at once through bulk lots.
If more miners follow Riot and 3% of hashrate moves to AI: the break-even power price on an S19k Pro rises from 6.4 to 6.6 cents per kilowatt-hour. At 8 cents, daily profit goes from -$0.99 to -$0.86.
Be blunt about it: one company changing its mix does not move the network. Overall, hashrate is near 1021 EH/s. A 3% drop would help every other miner a little. Likewise, it would not rescue a machine that loses money at your power price.
If the table shows a loss at your rate, our we buy used miners page is the exit. If you clear it, see the miners in stock.
-Nick
ING Mining
This is general information, not financial advice. Crypto is volatile, and exchanges can fail. Please do your own research.
How this story was made: drafted with the help of AI tools from public sources, then edited by Nick Squires. See our editorial policy. Spot an error? Email ns@ingmining.com.