When customers stop buying your equipment, what do you do? If you are Bitdeer Technologies Group, the answer is simple: you start using it yourself. And I mean it seriously.
The producer becomes a miner
Bitdeer Technologies Group (BTDR), a company known for producing Bitcoin mining equipment and infrastructure for miners, is significantly changing its business model. Why? Because the demand for excavators has weakened, and waiting for better times is not a strategy for ambitious players. Instead of worrying about declining sales, Bitdeer simply enters the game as a player – increasing its own mining capacity and de facto competing with its own customers.
According to Bloomberg reports from September, the company is rapidly accelerating its pivot towards its own BTC mining. This is a bold move, but in the current market conditions – quite sensible.
Bitdeer knows that numbers don’t lie
Bitdeer’s latest financial documents show spectacular year-over-year growth in computing power. In August 2025, the company mined 375 BTC, which puts it sixth in the global miners ranking – just behind such powerhouses as MARA Holdings, IREN, Cango, CleanSpark and Riot Platforms.
But what’s truly impressive is the power gain. Between December 2024 and July 2025, Bitdeer almost tripled its own hashrate to 22.5 exahash per second. It’s a leap that’s hard to ignore. The company openly declares its ambition to become one of the five largest Bitcoin miners in the world, and it seems that it is already one step away from achieving this goal.
Industrial trend: from manufacturer to operator
Bitdeer is not alone in this strategy. Industry publication The Miner Mag highlighted a broader trend among mining equipment manufacturers who are starting to monetize their own mining capacity when equipment sales don’t go their way. Canaan is another example of a company using similar tactics.
In both cases, excess inventory that would once have gone to customers is now deployed internally
– wrote The Miner Mag in its September Miner Weekly newsletter.
Wolfie Zhao, an analyst at The Miner Mag, told Bloomberg that he expects “large miners to remain cautious about expanding their fleets for the foreseeable future.” Demand for new excavators is weak, so manufacturers are taking matters into their own hands.
Bitcoin at $126,000, but mining? More difficult than ever
The paradox of the current situation is fascinating. Bitcoin is breaking all-time records, recently surpassing $126,000, and yet the economics of mining are becoming more and more demanding. The main culprit? The 2024 halving that cut block rewards in half.
At the same time, the difficulty of the Bitcoin network (an indicator of how hard it is to mine a new block) is rising to new record highs. This is a long-term trend that effectively narrows margins and makes life difficult for even the largest players in the industry.
Diversification: AI comes to the rescue
Faced with increasing difficulty and reduced rewards, Bitcoin miners are looking for new sources of revenue. This is where artificial intelligence comes in.
Several mining companies are beginning to redirect their hardware to support AI computing and data center infrastructure. Hive Digital, IREN and TeraWulf are just some examples of miners that have entered AI hosting or high-performance computing services.
The logic is simple: demand for AI computing is exploding, and big tech companies are promising hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in new data centers. Miners have the infrastructure, computing power and experience in managing large energy operations. Why not use it?
Some rent excess power to AI companies, creating a more stable revenue stream that protects against cryptocurrency price volatility. At a time when BTC can jump 20% up or down in a week, the predictability of AI contracts sounds like music to CFO ears.
What does this mean for the industry?
Bitdeer’s move is a symptom of a broader transformation in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Equipment manufacturers can no longer rely solely on excavator sales. Large miners are cautious about expansion. And everyone is looking for ways to survive in an increasingly competitive environment.
Does this mean the end of the Bitcoin mining boom? Not necessarily. Rather, it is a maturation of the industry – a transition from gold rush to a more calculated, professional business. Those who can adapt will survive. Those who don’t… well, they’ll be left behind.
One thing is certain: Bitdeer does not intend to wait on its hands. If customers don’t buy excavators, the company will use them itself. It may be a bold move, but in the cryptocurrency world, aggressive adaptation often proves to be the only valid strategy.
