Google to acquire rights to buy 5.4% stake in crypto mining firm Cipher Mining

PANews reported on September 25th that Alphabet's Google will acquire the right to purchase a 5.4% stake in crypto mining company Cipher Mining Inc. as part of a multi-year data center agreement with artificial intelligence computing startup Fluidstack. Cipher, the data center operator, stated that Google has agreed to guarantee $1.4 billion in debt owed by Fluidstack under its contract with Cipher. Fluidstack has reached an initial 10-year agreement with Cipher to lease its computing power, which is expected to generate approximately $3 billion in revenue. This is the second such deal between Google and Fluidstack in the past two months, highlighting the booming demand for computing resources to power AI services.

Cipher, whose data centers are used for cryptocurrency mining, said it will use Google's guarantee agreement to help it finance expansion. Cipher said the contract includes two potential five-year renewal options, potentially generating an additional $4 billion in revenue. Shares of New York-based Cipher surged as much as 24% in pre-market trading before the opening of the New York Stock Exchange. The stock closed at $14.14 on Wednesday, having more than tripled this year.