Hut 8 has won the bankruptcy auction for Poolin’s two Texas data centers with a $140 million bid, according to court records.
The sale still needs approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, which has a hearing scheduled for September 29.
A bigger Texas footprint
Hut 8 already controls about 1.5 gigawatts of power capacity in Texas across sites that are either operating or under development.
Poolin’s Pyote and Tarbush assets would add to that footprint at a time when grid access has become one of the most valuable pieces of both AI infrastructure and bitcoin mining.
In the second quarter, the company reported 949 MW of contracted IT capacity, worth an estimated $26.6 billion in base-term contracts, and said it had secured $7.5 billion in investment-grade financing so far.
Why energized sites cost more
According to CoinShares’ Q2 mining report, data centers now make up 87% of ERCOT’s large-load queue, totaling 410 GW.
Three fully leased AI facilities in Northern Virginia recently sold for about $27 million per MW, while the energized but unleased capacity of some listed miners is valued at less than $3 million per MW.
Converting a mining site to AI-grade infrastructure costs roughly $8 million to $15 million per MW, yet CoinShares estimates AI work could earn about $1.5 million in annual profit per MW, compared with $0.5 million for bitcoin mining.
A tough quarter for miners
Bitcoin ended June at $58,400, while listed miners faced a weighted-average cash cost of about $75,500 per coin, leaving the sector below breakeven overall.
Conditions improved by mid-August as bitcoin recovered and a stronger hash price pushed most operators back above cash breakeven.
Texas turns up the scrutiny
On September 21, Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to halt data-center permits until ERCOT completes an audit, alongside reviews of grid and water impacts.
Hut 8 had said on August 10 that it welcomed state scrutiny focused on grid reliability, local resources, and community impacts.
