Bitcoin mining firm Iren saw its stock price climb on Monday after announcing a significant expansion of its artificial intelligence cloud services, a move that contrasts with a broad downturn in cryptocurrency markets. At the same time, precious metals like gold and silver experienced a notable rally, with gold reaching a new record high.
Key Takeaways
- Iren announced the purchase of 12,400 new GPUs, doubling its AI cloud capacity and targeting over $500 million in annualized revenue by early 2026.
- Cryptocurrency markets faced a major liquidation event, with Bitcoin falling below $112,200 and Ethereum dropping below $4,200.
- Gold futures surged to a record high of $3,783 per ounce, while silver reached its highest price in 14 years.
- Bitdeer Technologies also saw its stock increase after an analyst raised its price target, citing potential AI and high-performance computing expansion.
Iren Doubles Down on Artificial Intelligence
Iren (IREN), a company known for bitcoin mining and data center operations, announced a major strategic investment in its AI infrastructure. The company has procured an additional 12,400 graphics processing units (GPUs), effectively doubling its total AI cloud capacity to 23,000 GPUs.
This expansion is part of a plan to generate more than $500 million in annualized revenue from its AI Cloud division by the first quarter of 2026. The company stated that the demand for AI cloud services continues to exceed the available global supply, creating a favorable market environment.
Details of the Hardware Acquisition
The total investment for the new hardware is approximately $674 million. The purchase includes a mix of high-demand processors from leading manufacturers:
- 7,100 Nvidia B300s
- 4,200 Nvidia B200s
- 1,100 AMD MI350Xs
According to Iren, incorporating AMD hardware alongside its existing Nvidia GPUs will broaden its service offerings and allow it to serve a larger market. The company expects to receive the new units over the next several months.
Market Reaction to Iren's News
Following the announcement, IREN stock increased by 8.4% on Monday, reaching new record highs. This continues a strong performance for the company, with its shares having rallied more than 327% so far in 2025.
Bitdeer Gains on Analyst Optimism
In a related development, Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR) also experienced a positive day in the market. The company's stock rose 9% after Roth Capital increased its price target from $18 to $40 per share.
The analyst firm cited Bitdeer's potential to expand into high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence. Roth Capital noted that Bitdeer is currently in negotiations for various partnership structures, which could involve joint ventures or preferred equity arrangements.
"Bitdeer's exposure to HPC and AI may not be the narrative now, but it will quickly become one in the next six to nine months," Roth Capital wrote in a note to investors.
The firm maintained its "buy" rating on the stock. Despite the day's gains, BTDR shares are still down 17.2% for the year.
Cryptocurrency Market Experiences Sharp Decline
While AI-focused crypto-adjacent stocks performed well, the broader digital asset market faced significant selling pressure. According to data from Coinglass, the crypto market saw $1.8 billion in liquidations over a 24-hour period.
The vast majority of these liquidations, totaling $1.66 billion, were from long positions, indicating that traders who had bet on rising prices were forced to sell.
Major Digital Assets Tumble
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, saw its price fall by nearly 2.9%, dropping below the $112,200 mark. The asset experienced $299 million in liquidations during the downturn.
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, suffered a more substantial decline. Its price fell by almost 7.9% to below $4,200, with liquidations for the asset reaching $524 million. This sell-off reversed gains made last week after the Federal Reserve announced a rate cut.
Analyst Outlook on Bitcoin and Gold
In a note, Deutsche Bank commented on the market dynamics, suggesting that despite recent volatility, Bitcoin has shown "remarkable resilience" this year due to growing institutional adoption. The bank projects that Bitcoin could rebound to over $120,000 by the end of the year. They also noted that both gold and Bitcoin could serve as reserve assets for central banks by 2030, though neither is expected to replace the U.S. dollar.
Precious Metals Rally Amid Market Uncertainty
As investors moved away from riskier assets like cryptocurrencies, traditional safe-haven assets saw a significant surge in value. Gold and silver both posted strong gains on Monday.
Gold futures rose more than 2% to a new record of $3,783 per ounce, bringing its total gain for 2025 to approximately 43%.
Silver also performed well, increasing by 3.2% to $44.31 per ounce. This marks its highest price since August 2011 and a year-to-date gain of about 51%. The metal is now approaching its all-time settlement high of $48.70 an ounce, set in January 1980.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank attributed gold's strength to several factors, including geopolitical uncertainty, continued purchasing by central banks, and expectations of further rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. These elements have reinforced gold's traditional role as a key portfolio diversifier and safe-haven asset.
