Cipher Mining (CIFR) Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference summary

Business overview and strategic positioning

• Operates four large data centers for Bitcoin mining, with a pipeline of seven more sites and nearly three gigawatts planned over the next few years.

• Focuses on low-cost power locations, often in nontraditional areas like West Texas, to maximize margins.

• Transitioning from pure Bitcoin mining to developing high-performance computing (HPC) data centers, leveraging existing interconnects and expertise.

• Two 300-MW sites are under development, with availability in 2025, and more sites coming online in 2026 and 2027.

• Has a team with significant hyperscaler construction experience, enabling turnkey data center builds for large tenants.

Market trends and competitive landscape

• Demand for large-scale data centers is surging, driven by AI and HPC needs, with power and time-to-power as key bottlenecks.

• Traditional data center development faces long interconnect queues, often requiring four to five years for new large sites.

• Bitcoin mining sites in remote areas offer a time advantage for conversion to HPC use, as they already have interconnects.

• The market is evolving, with more competition for large interconnects and distressed asset opportunities becoming scarcer.

• Strategic shift to acquiring sites earlier in the interconnection process to maintain a competitive edge.

Data center design, operations, and flexibility

• Bitcoin mining data centers are designed for low CapEx and high power efficiency, often using ambient air cooling and modular designs.

• Newer facilities, like the Black Pearl site, are built to standards that allow easier conversion to HPC use, with most infrastructure reusable.

• Bitcoin mining operations are highly flexible, instantly curtailable, and can respond to real-time power price signals, supporting grid stability.

• Average power cost is about $27/MWh, achieved by shutting down during the most expensive 5% of price periods.

• The team’s experience includes over 600 MW of hyperscaler data center builds, using the same contractors and processes as major cloud providers.