Rubin Platform Mass Production Shockwave: Why Are Bitcoin Miners Collectively Shifting to the AI Infrastructure Track

NVIDIA’s next-generation Rubin platform has entered mass production and will be officially launched later this year. This not only represents a new height in AI infrastructure technology but is also profoundly changing the business logic of Bitcoin miners. An increasing number of miners are no longer solely pursuing mining profits but are transforming into AI computing infrastructure operators, selling energy, cooling capacity, and data center resources. This reflects a larger industry shift: a major capital migration from crypto mining to AI infrastructure.

How technological breakthroughs are changing the competitive landscape

Performance leap of the Rubin platform

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang revealed at CES that the AI computing power of the Rubin platform is about five times that of the previous generation. More notably, in terms of efficiency: despite only a 1.6x increase in transistor count, generative AI token processing efficiency has improved by approximately 10x. This means NVIDIA has broken through Moore’s Law’s physical constraints through architectural innovation rather than simply stacking transistors.

In terms of hardware configuration, the Rubin flagship server integrates 72 GPUs and 36 CPUs, capable of forming ultra-large clusters via high-speed interconnects, with a single cluster housing over 1,000 Rubin chips. This scale of deployment at the data center level directly targets the fastest-growing segment—AI inference.

Response from competitors

The rapid follow-up comes from AMD. CEO Su Zifeng announced the Helios AI data center platform at the same CES, equipped with 72 MI455X chips, forming direct competition with Rubin. Analysts are relatively optimistic about Helios AI; Stifel has a target price of $280, Benchmark $325. This indicates market recognition that AMD’s competitiveness in AI infrastructure is rising.

However, NVIDIA still holds a first-mover advantage. CoreWeave will be among the first clients to adopt Rubin systems, and Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, and Alphabet are also viewed as potential users. This ecosystem lock-in is difficult to break in the short term.

The business logic behind miners’ shift

From mining to hosting model

A key observation in recent news is that more Bitcoin miners are no longer positioning themselves solely as crypto mining enterprises but are transforming into operators of power, racks, and data centers. This is not a forced move but a rational choice.

Compared to the highly cyclical Bitcoin mining profits, hosting AI workloads can provide more stable cash flow, especially during bear markets. This fundamentally changes miners’ financial models: shifting from reliance on coin price volatility to a diversified income structure (mining revenue + hosting fees + energy sales).

Raising the survival threshold

But this shift also exposes a harsh reality: high-quality data center resources are becoming scarce assets. Large-scale cloud providers and AI startups are pushing up rents and equipment costs, meaning that miners with scale, power advantages, and financing capabilities are more likely to succeed.

Small miners will face greater pressure in 2026. They may be unable to compete with large miners in data center operations or sustain profitability solely through mining. This is a process of natural selection.

Changes in investor sentiment

Related information offers an interesting perspective: there has been a significant shift in retail investment behavior in South Korea. In 2025, the daily trading volume of Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit, plummeted from $9 billion to $1.78 billion, an 80% drop. Meanwhile, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) increased by over 70%, with daily trading volume more than doubling.

This capital flow from the crypto market to traditional equities reflects a new understanding of AI infrastructure. South Korea has a leading global supply chain for memory chips, with SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics nearly monopolizing the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market, which is core hardware for training AI large models. As demand from giants like NVIDIA explodes, these companies’ earnings soar, attracting substantial capital inflows.

This indicates a global shift in investment logic: from speculative crypto investments to strategic allocations in the AI infrastructure industry chain.

The future triangle of competition

Will NVIDIA’s monopoly weaken?

The launch of Rubin further consolidates NVIDIA’s market position, but the entry of competitors like AMD and Intel means it is no longer an absolute monopoly. The future AI chip market may evolve into a “one superpower, multiple strong contenders” pattern, with NVIDIA still holding a large share but gradually losing market dominance.

Accelerated differentiation among miners

Large miners aiming to shift toward AI infrastructure may upgrade their business models. However, small and medium miners could face exclusion or acquisition, accelerating industry consolidation.

Infrastructure becoming a new investment hotspot

Investments across the entire AI infrastructure chain—from chips to power, cooling, and networking—may become key themes by 2026. Compared to the speculative nature of crypto mining, these investments are more industry-driven with solid cash flow support.

Summary

The mass production of the Rubin platform is not only a technological advancement but also a signal of industry transformation. It is driving Bitcoin miners from solely mining to infrastructure operation, while also attracting global capital to flow from the crypto market into the AI infrastructure industry chain. In this process, large miners and companies with industry advantages will succeed, while small participants face the risk of being pushed out. Although NVIDIA still maintains a leading position, competition is intensifying. Overall, the AI infrastructure race in 2026 will be a long-term multi-party competition rather than a solo performance by a single enterprise.