Cipher Mining to Raise $2 Billion for AI Computing Expansion

Cipher Mining's subsidiary, Black Pearl, is set to raise $2 billion through a private placement of senior bonds, which will mature in 2031. The capital will primarily fund the completion of a high-performance computing (HPC) data center in Wink, Texas.

Additionally, the funds will allow Cipher to repay around $232.5 million that was previously drawn from its credit line for the subsidiary. Cipher Mining is guaranteeing the debt for Black Pearl.

In December 2023, Cipher acquired a site for Black Pearl with an initial capacity to connect up to 300 megawatts (MW). By June 2025, the facility was operational for Bitcoin mining, achieving a hashrate of approximately 2.5 exahashes per second (EH/s) while utilizing 150 MW. Future plans include upgrading equipment, such as incorporating Canaan's Avalon A15Pro models.

As of now, Cipher operates five data centers with a combined capacity of 2.6 gigawatts (GW). Earlier this year, the company expanded into the AI sector, leasing a data center in Colorado City, Texas, to UK startup Fluidstack, facilitated by Google, which invested $1.4 billion in exchange for a stake in Cipher.

In November, Cipher signed a $5.5 billion lease agreement with Amazon Web Services to bolster its HPC services. Currently, Cipher has a deployed Bitcoin hashrate of 23.6 EH/s, ranking seventh among public companies in the sector, having increased its mining capacity by about 1.5 times over the past year.