Riot Platforms has signed Anthropic to a long-term lease covering the full 910 MW of critical IT capacity planned for its Corsicana campus in Texas, pushing the Bitcoin miner further into large-scale AI infrastructure. According to Riot’s third-quarter Form 10-Q, the agreement became effective November 4 and carries an estimated $28 billion of contract value over its initial term. Anthropic will install and operate the computing equipment while Riot supplies the land, powered pads and electrical infrastructure.
The contract uses a triple-net structure, meaning Anthropic is responsible for electricity, taxes, insurance and other site expenses while paying base rent of $130 per kilowatt per month with 3% annual escalators. Riot estimates approximately $1.8 billion in average annual rent and a 99% NOI margin over the initial term. Those figures are company projections tied to full contractual deployment rather than revenue Riot is already generating today.
$5.5B Buildout Uses Two Financing Paths
Corsicana is expected to require approximately $5.5 billion of total hard costs. Riot estimates up to $1.8 billion for its own site work and electrical infrastructure and another $3.6 billion to reimburse Anthropic for eligible modular data-center costs, capped at $4 million per delivered IT megawatt. The financing structure makes Riot responsible for substantial infrastructure capital even though Anthropic owns and operates the compute hardware.
Riot’s preferred financing path contemplates non-recourse project debt sized against contracted rent. Its investor materials illustrate $4.4 billion to $4.9 billion of project-level debt, leaving approximately $500 million to $1.1 billion of Riot cash equity. If comparable financing cannot be obtained, the lease provides an alternative in which Anthropic initially carries reimbursable module costs and recovers them through rent credits. Only that fallback rent-credit structure carries the implied 12% annual financing rate.
That distinction makes the contract materially different from a simple $28 billion lease headline. Rent credits could reduce cash rent collected by Riot while reimbursed construction costs amortize, whereas project debt would preserve contractual rent but introduce debt service. The economics ultimately depend on which financing route Riot uses, the final borrowing terms and whether capacity is delivered on schedule.
The structure resembles a wider transformation among miners whose large power positions can be redirected toward AI infrastructure. Core Scientific has similarly shifted mining capacity toward long-duration AI data-center contracts, backed by billions of dollars in financing and a major CoreWeave commitment. In both cases, predictable contracted revenue comes with construction, leverage and customer-concentration risks that differ substantially from Bitcoin mining economics.
Bitcoin Sales Are Funding the AI Transition
Riot has already been converting part of its Bitcoin treasury into development capital. The company said it sold 20,264 BTC during the first nine months of 2026 for approximately $1.5 billion, primarily to fund data-center projects, while also using sale proceeds to repay its $200 million Coinbase credit facility. Bitcoin has consequently shifted from being primarily a treasury asset to becoming a funding source for Riot’s infrastructure transition.
That balance-sheet shift reflects a broader challenge for mining companies moving into AI. Analysts have previously warned that HIVE, Bitfarms and Bitdeer face heavier capex and execution requirements as they pursue AI data centers. Enterprise AI facilities demand higher uptime, cooling and power-quality standards than conventional ASIC mining sites. Existing grid access is valuable, but transforming it into enterprise-grade compute infrastructure still requires significant capital and engineering execution.
Riot plans to bring Corsicana online incrementally. The first 400 MW phase is targeted for full delivery in September 2027, followed by 200 MW in January 2028 and the final 310 MW in July 2028. The lease includes penalties through escalating rent credits if Riot delivers capacity more than 60 days late. The $28 billion contract therefore depends on a multi-year construction schedule rather than representing immediately monetizable backlog.
The agreement nonetheless gives Riot a defined counterparty and long-duration revenue framework for its largest campus, moving the business further from pure exposure to Bitcoin production. Investor interest in that transition is already visible across mining equities, with portfolios increasingly treating operators such as Riot as potential AI and power-infrastructure businesses rather than only Bitcoin miners. Corsicana will now test whether Riot can convert that infrastructure thesis into contracted cash flow without letting financing costs or delivery delays erode the economics of the deal.