Introduction: The Pain of Halving and the Temptation of AI

On April 8, 2026, as we opened the latest quarterly reports and hardware release events, a disconcerting fact emerged for pure crypto believers: the Bitcoin network is losing some of its most steadfast supporters. With a rare 4% retraction in Q1 hash rate, MARA Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: $MARA)'s AI transformation and Riot Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: $RIOT)'s crazy coin sales tell a common business truth—under survival pressure, "HODL" is no longer a shield for public companies.

1. Bitdeer's 9.45 J/TH: Why Is This the Industry's "Countdown to Extinction?"

Yesterday, Bitdeer released the SEALMINER A4, completely destroying the economic model of older models.

• Dimensional Chip Sovereignty: In the past, major mining companies could only queue to purchase spot supplies from external vendors (such as Bitmain). Bitdeer has utilized its self-developed SEAL04 chip, forcefully reducing the energy efficiency ratio to 9.45 J/TH. At the current extremely high network difficulty of over 80,000, this means that under the same power consumption, the profits generated by the A4 are several times that of the old generation mining machines.

• Massacre of the Existing Market: When industry giants like Bitdeer begin deploying new models, the overall network hash rate difficulty will experience a slight rebound, and this rebound will become the last straw for those still operating the 25 J/TH old model mining companies.

2. MARA's Total Defection: Are AI Data Centers More Profitable than Mining?

Yesterday, MARA acquired a stake in the French company Exaion and partnered with Starwood, reflecting the industry-wide “flight from mining.”

• From Probability Game to Certainty Rental: Mining profits depend on uncertain coin prices and overall network difficulty. However, transforming the same facilities with high electricity quotas and cooling systems into AI/HPC data centers sells a stable "fiat power rental."

• Wall Street's Valuation Preference: The market has voted in favor of MARA’s transformation with real money as its stock price rebounded. Investors are clearly more willing to give high price-to-earnings ratios to “AI infrastructure stocks” with stable fiat cash flows, rather than giving high premiums to “pure mining companies” that endure price fluctuations.

3. Riot and Cango's Bloodletting: Is Treasury an Asset or a Burden?

The quarterly report revealed that RIOT sold 3,778 BTC in the first quarter, which is shocking.

• The Black Hole of Capital Expenditure: To acquire new mining machines (to keep up with Bitdeer) and pay high electricity bills, Riot must sell its past reserves. Not only Riot, but even the cross-industry company Cango is liquidating on a large scale. This indicates that the current Bitcoin output can no longer cover the sustenance expenses of the companies.

• The Fragility of Reserves: This phenomenon also serves as a warning to the market: besides outliers like Strategy Inc. that have special debt issuance channels, ordinary operating companies' Bitcoin reserves are likely to be treated like ATMs for withdrawals when facing headwinds in the industry, thus creating real selling pressure in the secondary market.

The real financial report cycle of April 7, 2026, declared the bankruptcy of blind optimism. Cryptocurrency concept stocks are heading towards complete polarization: either like Bitdeer, pushing the physical limits on the underlying silicon chips, or like MARA, using the money gained from selling digital assets to embrace the AI era. In this spring dominated by 9.45 J/TH, mediocre mining companies have lost their right to exist.

Data Source:https://bbx.com/ Cryptocurrency concept stock information library, based on announcements from global listed companies and SEC/TSE disclosure documents from yesterday.

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